


The Academy of Hope and the Fighters of Despair

by Variabels



Series: Smashronpa [1]
Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Danganronpa AU, Gen, all the links are cousins, chapter 15 has melee characters in it, kirby is a badass, link is naegi, master hand is monokuma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 22:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 70,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9789410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Variabels/pseuds/Variabels
Summary: Danganronpa AULink is about to start his new year at Hope's Peak Academy. However after entering, he finds himself trapped with his fifteen fellow students in a killing game of despair ran by Master Hand. Will the students all fall into despair and kill each other or will Link find a way to bring hope to everyone and stop Master Hand?





	1. Welcome to the Academy of Despair

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my new fanfic inspired by my two favorite games SSB and Danganronpa. The first chapter is mainly introductions, but you should reader since it helps understand the story better.  
> Hope you enjoy!

“Hope’s Peak Academy” It’s an exclusive academy, officially recognized by the government itself, it aspires to gather the most talented students in their respective fields. General opinion says that if you attend the school you have success in life guaranteed. The school has hundreds of years of history in which its top students got to the leading role of their professional field time after time and in which the school has expanded to multiple regions. Its goal is to raise Nintendo’s “hope” that will lead it in the future. This has lead some people to call the school the “Academy of Hope”.

To be accepted into the school you must be two things: “the very best in your field of expertise” and “still be in school”. Unlike normal schools, Hope’s Peak doesn’t accept entry requests. You need to be scouted and invited by the school to enter it.

And so here I stand. In front of Hope’s Peak Academy. The building is so huge and grand. The main brick tower radiates so much power with it’s surrounding gray towers. I guess those are the dorms. I can’t wait to enter the gate of the most amazing school in the country…

Oh, I almost forgot! Let me introduce myself. My name is Link. I’m nothing too out of the ordinary compared to some of the more famous students I’ve heard about. All that really stands out are my pointy ears but I’m not the only one who has them. Otherwise I guess I’m a pretty normal person for Nintendo. There’s nothing really special about my personality either. I could say that I’m a bit heroic but so are many of the other students. Even the things I thought I was good at aren’t that special. The class above mine has the “Ultimate Swordsman” and another student who’s pretty good with a sword. Actually I don’t think Hope’s Peak has had a year without someone being a swordsman. Anyway, my hobbies are pretty normal, I like playing games like everyone. I like animals like everyone and the music I listen to is whatever is popular at the moment.

You’re probably wondering how someone like me is standing in front of this school. I’ll explain to you what happened yesterday evening.

I was surfing on the Melee branch of Hope’s Peak forum. Yes, the school has a forum. It even has pages dedicated to specific students. I decided to look to see who would be attending the school this year.

For example, a girl was accepted as the “Ultimate Singer”. Her singing is said to be so beautiful that it makes some people fall asleep.

Then there’s the “Ultimate Plumber”. I heard he doesn’t do it much but when he does it’s really well done. To be honest I can’t see how anyone would want that talent, but I think he’s happy to be accepted into the school.

Someone was admitted as the “Ultimate Mascot”. He’s been on lots of magazine covers and is even the mascot of Nintendo’s soccer team. That’s really impressive, he’s managed to capture the whole nation’s heart.

Even more amazing, there’s the “Ultimate Bounty Hunter”. She’s often mistaken for a guy due to her suit and personality. It’s said that there are many professional bounty hunters that want to hire her, heck even the government wants to hire her. That’s how amazing she is.

There’s also the “Ultimate Driver”, “Ultimate Captain”, “Ultimate Magician” and so on. Nothing but people with amazing talents. There are also some others missing on the list. There are only twelve names yet there are supposed to be sixteen students per class. I’m not surprised about my lack of appearance on the list since I’m not famous at all. But what about the three others? I guess maybe they aren’t famous or prefer to remain anonymous.

So by now you’re probably wondering. How did such a normal guy like me get accepted into the academy?

Well, it turns out the academy recognized a talent I had. I never thought I had it, but that’s probably because I’ve had it all my life and it’s always seemed normal for me. No one else I know knew I had it. But I guess if Hope’s Peak noticed it, I might as well attend the school. I’ll tell you my talent now. I’m the “Ultimate Puzzle Solver”. Yeah, pretty lame compared to the others. But I guess I am quite good at solving puzzles. I remember easily solving a puzzle called “The Water Temple” in a video game, I live streamed it with some friends for fun. I guess Hope’s Peak saw it, turns out it was one of the hardest puzzles in that game. It’s said to be impossible to do without backtracking at least once on the first try. But I did it without backtracking once on my first play through.

I don’t really see how that’s considered a talent. I guess I should be happy I even got accepted into the school. I first thought it was a prank. But here I am standing in front of success for life.

I read the acceptance letter once again before entering the grand building. I was in the hall but… No one was there. I wondered if I was late but the clocks all said 8am which was the meeting time. Maybe I went to the wrong hall. I decided to walk around the school but didn’t find anyone. I look at the letter once more and decided to head to my class room. It’s so embarrassing to think that I’ll be late for my first day at Hope’s Peak.

I entered my class room to be kindly greeted by my new classmates. At least that was what was supposed to happen but all I felt was a strange dizziness. Everything became blurry as my vision was somehow being twisted. The next thing I saw was darkness. Nothing but darkness.

That’s when everything changed. My normal life ended. I should have realized sooner that this was too good to be true. There’s no way I would have gotten into the “Academy of Hope”.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

“…”

 

“……”

 

“….…..”

 

“... huh? Where am I?”

 

I looked around and noticed I was in a classroom. I must have fallen asleep, nothing out of the ordinary I always fall asleep.

However the more I looked at the room the more confused I became. I’ve never been in here. This room had yellow walls and a big black board. There were desks surrounding mine, almost felt like if I was in the middle of some huge trial. I noticed no one was around and I checked the clock. It was five past eight, maybe I mistook the time on the clocks and fell asleep. I then noticed a security camera.

“Why’s there a camera in here?” I muttered to myself. I approached the camera to look at it but I noticed something even more disturbing. The windows were covered in metal plates. I’m pretty sure there weren’t any when I was outside. I knocked on the plates to confirm that they were metal. But what did the school need them for?

I got up and noticed a paper underneath my desk. It was a pamphlet with bad handwriting and crappy drawings of hands.

“A new semester has started! A revolutionary new semester awaits you bastards inside these school walls!” I read aloud. “This is plain stupid.” I told myself. I threw the paper in the bin and headed outside.

I decided to head to the entrance hall. I walked down the hallway thinking about what I had just seen. It almost felt like something out of a video game or a movie. For all I know the school could be doing a zombie apocalypse week or something like that. It did feel like a base you’d have in that situation. But the lack of people made it feel more like a type of prison designed to make whoever was inside go crazy. I took a glance at the corridors and noticed how the wall and light color changed in some parts.

“This is starting to feel creepy.” I said while feeling a chill climb up my spine. I decided to stop thinking about the mysteries of this school and continued my journey. I arrived in front of a door with an exit sign on top of it. I took a long breath and I opened the door.

 

Once I entered, I saw _them_. They were waiting and it made me feel overwhelmed.

 

“Are-a you a student here?” asked a short guy with an Italian accent. I tried to reply but I couldn’t find any words, so I just nodded.

“Well that makes sixteen of us!” said… A gorilla! I was shocked out of my mind. I knew there were weird students that weren’t human but I never thought they’d let a talking gorilla in this school. Next thing I know a country will have a gorilla president, king or something like that.

So these are the “Ultimate” students. My new classmates radiated an aura of grandeur. I looked at them and decided to introduce myself.

“I’m Link the Ultimate Puzzle Solver. Nice to meet you all. I… Um… I’m not sure about what happened but I fell asleep and woke up in an empty classroom.”

“You too? How strange…” said a blonde girl in a dress.

“Hey, you’re late!” yelled the girl next to her. She was really tall, about six foot tall. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail. She seemed like one of those beautiful girls that turn out to be quite rude.

“God, it’s not like we had a choice.” grunted a fox dressed in human clothes. This school just won’t stop getting weirder…

“We should introduce ourselves to Link.” cried out a high pitched voice. It was a little boy with black hair and blue eyes wearing a cap.

“Before any of you protest. I think it’s a good idea to get to know each other better. We should all introduce ourselves to Link.” explained a man in karate clothing. I felt relieved since it seemed as though there actually was someone pretty normal in this school.

I already knew who most of them were thanks to the forums but meeting them in person was different. I felt like I had almost forgotten everything I had read about them. Before approaching anyone, I looked to the back of the room and saw a huge metal bulkhead. There was also a camera, I sighed and reluctantly accepted the fact that this school was plain weird.

 

I approached the angry blonde girl. She was wearing a blue suit instead of a uniform. I didn’t put too much thought into that and I started a conversation with her.

“I’m Samus Aran the Ultimate Bounty Hunter. If you get dirt anywhere near me, I’ll kill you. Nice to meet you, Link.” Samus gave off the impression of a socially awkward person but she seems to genuinely be nice. I hope we get to be friends.

 

I then walked towards a man that looked like the Italian guy I had met earlier but taller and dressed in a green uniform. He seemed scared but he was kind enough to introduce himself.

“I-I am-a Luigi! The Ultimate-a Little Brother…” he muttered shyly in an Italian accent.

“That’s a talent?”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe it’s a good talent! Well, I-I…” he didn’t finish his sentence and just stood without saying a word. I felt bad, I was surprised by his talent but if he’s the “Ultimate Little Brother” he must have a great relationship with his brother. I wonder what it’s like to have a sibling… Anyway I should go talk to the next person.

 

The next student was Yoshi the “Ultimate Babysitter”. He was a little green creature with a red shell on his back. Apparently he’s a yoshi. He seems familiar.

“Hey, didn’t I babysit you once?”

“How did you remember that?”

“I might babysit a lot but I make sure to remember every kid I’ve met.” He answered. We talked for a bit until Samus yelled at us for talking too much. I said bye to Yoshi and went towards the other Italian guy.

 

“It’s-a me-a Mario! The Ultimate Plumber!”

“Uh… Is Luigi your little brother?”

“A-yes! He-a has an amazing-a talent! I am-a stuck with-a this lame plumber talent…” he seemed to get depressed after saying that so I decided to let him be. He walked towards his little brother.

 

“Hey, Link! I am the Ultimate Singer known as Jiggles!” a small jiggypuff yelled while jumping and waving her little arms in the air. She was really cute that I just wanted to hug her but I resisted that urge by walking away. I kinda felt bad for leaving her alone but she went to talk with Samus so I figured she was fine.

 

I then talked to the big guy in the karate clothing. We had a conversation about school.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I am Ryu the Ultimate Martial Artist” he boasted. Yeah, no shit Sherlock… I kept that thought to myself.

 

The little boy from earlier came towards me and introduced himself as Ness the “Ultimate Psychic”. I just stood there staring and wondering if he could read my thoughts.

“You’re wondering if I could read your thoughts, right?” I nodded to his remark. “I can’t do that. That would be rude anyway but everyone always thinks that so it’s pretty easy to guess what they’re thinking.” I continued to stare in disbelief for a minute before moving on to the next person.

 

“Hi, I’m Kirby. Nice to meet you!” said an adorable pink puff. He was even cuter than Jigglypuff.

 

“Nice to meet you too. So what’s your talent?” I couldn’t remember seeing his name online…

“Uh… I don’t wanna tell. It’s my privacy you know…” the pink puff sure knew how to say rude things without sounding rude. Is that his talent?

 

I approached the blonde girl in a dress. She looked like a pretty princess from a fantasy game.

“Hi, I’m Princess Zelda. I’m the Ultimate Magician.” she had a very beautiful voice to compliment her beauty. But I still couldn’t get over the fact that she was an actual princess. I heard about a class having someone being the Ultimate Princess, King or something like that but I didn’t think I’d have royalty in my class. Now that I think about it her name wasn’t on the list either.

 

“Hello! I am Captain Falcon! Ultimate Driver at your service!”

“I’m pretty sure there’s nothing for you to drive here.” I replied to the guy wearing a weird suit and a helmet. He seemed annoying and obnoxious so I decided to ignore him, all though I did feel a bit bad. Actually, more than a bit. I went back to talk to him and he told me the story of his first car.

 

“I’m Fox McCloud the Ultimate Captain. And no, I don’t sail ships.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you that…” I was still staring at him… A bipedal fox wearing a school uniform… I decided to go speak with someone else. If I kept staring, he might get mad at me.

 

I walked towards a guy with spiky blond hair. I’ve never seen such hair, he must really not care about the laws of physics… He seemed to be in a bad mood, maybe he can’t stand all the mysteries? I’ve never seen him, he wasn’t on the forums either…

“I’m Cloud Strife.”

“Uh, I’m Link… What’s your talent?”

“It’s not like it changes anything to our lives. I’m the Ultimate Mercenary.” Cloud seemed hesitant while saying that for some reason. Is he embarrassed about his talent? I shouldn’t ask, he’ll just get angry.

 

I then went to talk to the Gorilla. He introduced himself as Donkey Kong the “Ultimate Drummer”. I would’ve talked more with him, if I wasn’t trying to hold in my laugh. I was still processing the fact that I was in the same class as a gorilla. It reminded me of a show I watched in which the police was led by a gorilla… But now’s not the time for that. I still need to meet two persons.

 

“I’m Pikachu! The Ultimate Mascot. Want to take a selfie with me?” it was a pikachu. If I had pokéballs, I would have tried to catch him. He told me that he had a friend called Red who was attending another branch of Hope’s Peak in the other side of Nintendo. I wondered if the other branch was like this.

 

The last person I met was a really tall woman dressed in a black uniform. She wore glasses and had really long legs. Have legs always been that long?

“Hello, young boy. I hope your English is good, otherwise you should go ask your mum how to speak to a lady. I am Bayonetta.” she said with her British accent.

“Is that your real name? Bayonetta isn’t an actual name, I think.”

“Who calls their child Link?”

“I guess you’re right…”

 

After saying that, Ryu gathered everyone to talk about the matter at hand. Seems like everyone woke up in a classroom and noticed the cameras and windows. Some people started to complain about some of their things missing. Samus said she had come with her suit on and Cloud said he had a huge sword with him when he entered. We also came up with some theories about the metal door and about all that had been happening. We were in the middle of a big discussion, when we heard a noise.

“Bing Bong Bing Bong! Mike test! Can all of you hear me? This is a very important announcement! All the students must gather at the gym for the entrance ceremony. Oh and, welcome all to Hope’s Peak Academy!”

We all stood there confused for a minute. Then some students went out of the entrance hall. Only five of us where left. We were scared… It felt as though something bad was going to happen. Why would the school do all of this? It felt useless to just stay in the hall, so we headed out. I passed through the corridor and noticed a red door. It was made of a weird material, looked like what you would find in a fancy car or chair… I continued walking as fast I could. I then arrived at the gym door. I decided to not let my fear weigh me down and opened the door as quick as possible. Nothing seemed out of place. Guess I worried for nothing.

“Everyone is here! Let’s begin!” the voice from the intercom said. I don’t think anyone could have predicted what would happen next…

A floating hand appeared in front of us. We all looked at the floating hand in confusion. In the confusion, I heard someone call the hand a monster.

“I’m not a monster! I’m Master Hand. This school’s headmaster! Nice to meet you all.” Master Hand exclaimed happily. The hand argued with some of the students and he started a monologue.

“I will start the ceremony. You will remember it for the rest of your life! I will talk about your future school life. You bastards are geniuses full of hope. So in order to preserve that hope… You will all live your lives here as a community for the rest of your lives. I hope you all respect each other and get along. You’re stuck here for life!” Everyone looked at him with disbelief. What did he mean by for the rest of our lives? “Don’t worry we have a huge budget!”

“That’s not the problem here…” responded Ryu with his arms crossed.

“He’s lying! This must be a joke. You cannot keep us here for the rest of our lives.” snapped Zelda. She look really disturbed by the news.

“I’m no liar.” He said continuing his monologue. “Anyway, I would just want to tell you, that all contact with the external world is impossible. That’s what the metal windows are for! To keep you from escaping. You all came here from your own free will, so you should be fine with this!”

Everyone went quiet after that.

“However there is a way to get out! A rule I call Graduation. You just gotta break the harmony of the communal life. Then you can leave.”

“What’s this break the harmony?” Kirby wondered and Master Hand snickered in response.

“Killing someone of course. Method doesn’t matter. Are you hope filled kids starting to feel the despair? Because I sure am! This school is your new home and killing is the only way out.” Master Hand continued laughing causing Ryu to get angry. The man grabbed the floating Hand and a beeping sound started playing. Samus yelled at Ryu to throw the hand, he threw it. A ball of energy came out of nowhere and the hand disintegrated. However Master Hand came back like it was nothing.

Master Hand lectured us and gave us all digital ID handbooks. He explained to us how they were indestructible and essential to our new lives. He then gave a speech about how punishment is necessary for offenders and disappeared leaving us more frightened then before. We discussed what we had just heard for quite some time.

“You know what! This is all a joke. It’s obviously a lie” cried out Captain Falcon unable to accept what had just been said.

“That’s not the problem here…” noted Cloud looking away from the others.

“The problem is whether someone here takes this seriously.” added Kirby.

After that comment we stopped making noise. Everything was silent. We just stood in the gym looking at each other in silence. We all started to think about who was taking this seriously… Who had the guts to kill? Who would kill someone just to go out? Who would be the first to betray us?

That’s how this new school life started. This wasn’t the “school of hope” I had wished for.

This place was… This was… It was… It is…

The school of despair.


	2. Lives Smashed - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the shocking reveal of the students being trapped in a life or death situation, Link decides to get to know his fellow students a bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a week of travelling in England, a week of tests and a week of procrastination I bring you chapter 2.

“Killing is the only way out”

Those words wondered through my mind. Fear was taking over me and my environment. It took all of my strength to endure this heavy atmosphere. But someone’s words cut through it. It was the pink puffball’s.

“So what do we do now? Stare at each other in fear doing nothing?”

Her words brought us back to reality.

“You’re right Jigglypuff…” said Yoshi walking towards the microphone laying on the floor. “We need to work through this together!” he started. “Master Hand wants us to distrust each other. We must show him that we won’t give up into despair and kill each other.”

Yoshi’s words were full of power and ambition, but not in an evil way… No, not the evil kind of power. The power filled with hope and love.

“So what do you suggest we do now?” asked Cloud with a disinterested face.

“We should-a look for a way-a out!” proposed Mario. Cloud just sent him a glare implying he though Mario’s proposition was stupid.

“We could try to figure who’s Master Hand? Is he being controlled by someone? If yes, than by who?” suggested Fox. His suggestion was met with silence. It’s not as if anyone knew anything and if they did they wouldn’t tell… Wait, did I just suspect someone of knowing something? Well, it’s not like it can be helped in this situation.

“Maybe, we could look at the rules in our digital handbooks. We wouldn’t want to break a rule and die.” muttered Ness. It was a quiet mutter but everyone heard him and got their handbooks out.

I turned mine on and saw a sort of fairy appear on the screen.

**_**_Hi, I’m Navi! I’m your personalized handbook guide. I’ll teach you how to use your handbook. If you ever get lost in the school just ask me to show you a map. You can also take notes in it._ ** _ **

I’ve always liked the idea of having a little guide with me. But god, Navi’s voice was annoying, I felt like throwing my handbook at the wall. I must have gotten the worst guide, why was my luck always terrible?

“Why do I have a frog as a guide?” I heard Fox say.

“At least you don’t have some annoying yellow bird!” Cloud yelled at him.

Everyone started bragging about how their guide was the worst. Somehow that made us closer. We were having a great time and we forgot all about checking the rules. Oh, right! I should check them.

**_**_Rule #1 The students will all live a communal lifestyle inside the school with no time limit._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #2 The time between 10pm and 7am is called “night time”. Some places in the school can’t be accessed at night. The water in all the school will also stop working at night, so do your business before night time._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #3 Sleeping is only allowed in the dorms. Anyone found sleeping intentionally anywhere else will be punished._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #4 You may investigate the school as much as you wish. There are no restrictions._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #5 Violence against the headmaster, Master Hand, is strictly forbidden. Destroying a surveillance camera is also forbidden._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #6 Anyone who kills a student becomes a “blackened” and will graduate, unless they are discovered._ ** _ **

**_**_Rule #7 Additional rules may be added if necessary._ ** _ **

The feeling of joy that had entered my body soon disappeared after reading those rules. I looked at the others expressions. Most where either angry or scared.

“Uh, guys. What does the sixth rule mean?” asked Yoshi breaking the silence.

“You mean the second part ‘unless they are discovered’?” I responded. The little green guy nodded at my reply. I was wondering that myself.

“It probably means if you want to graduate, you have to kill somebody and nobody must find out that you are the killer.” answered Cloud. I could sense the feeling of distrust crawling upon all of my classmates. It was starting to crawl on me too…

“Let’s search the school. There may not be much but I’m sure we will find at least one clue. One clue is always better than none.” announced Yoshi. He was starting to seem like the group leader and the voice of reason. Maybe all the babysitting he’s done has helped him garner skills that let him calm down people of all ages.

“I’m going to go search alone.” declared Samus. It was obvious to everyone that she she couldn’t trust any of us. But she was being weary, she’s faced death so many times, so she must know if someone has a murderous aura around them.

“I’ll go by myself too.” smiled the Ultimate Singer. “I’d love to be with everyone but I want to go check the small places not everyone can get into.”

“I think it’s better for everyone if we go by ourselves. After all, there’s definitely someone who’s planning on going for the kill.” Cloud said making the atmosphere of the gym hall worse.

“You can’t say stuff like that! We’re all a class. We can work together. No one is going to kill anyone.” insisted Yoshi.

“If that was the case why did you all get scared after hearing the graduation rule?” the little green fellow tried to find a comeback but no words came out of his mouth. The blond smirked at the silence. “See, you can’t come up with an answer. Like it or not, you suspected someone of wanting to kill somebody.”

“Cloud is-a right. We all-a suspected each-a other. Come Luigi, let’s-a leave these people to their-a little quarrels.” Mario ordered his brother. The two Italians left the gym, some others followed after. We were only six left in the gym. I was about to leave but I heard Donkey Kong and Ryu fighting and I felt the need to intervene since Zelda, Yoshi and Cloud weren’t doing anything.

“There’s someone who will kill us here! Why can’t you get it through your thick skull!?” grunted Donkey Kong.

“I refuse to believe someone has the guts to kill somebody here!” Ryu screamed.

“Guys, stop fighting!” I said trying to stop them but it was to late they were already throwing their punches and I suddenly felt my consciousness fade away. I got in the middle of their fight and got hit by them… I must have fallen down like in some lame way. I…

 

* * *

 

 

I woke up, but where was I? I couldn’t recognize the interior. I was in a small room with red walls and blue carpets. The windows had iron plates just like the classroom in which I woke. A camera was hanging down from the roof and there was a monitor next to a door. A desk was standing against the wall where the windows were. The bed I was on was in front of the desk and on the other side of the room there was a round table with a shelf behind it.

I decided to look at my handbook to see where I was. It said I was in my room. Someone must have been nice enough to carry me here. I remember one of the rules being no sleeping anywhere besides the dorms. I should thank them, to think I could have been the lamest first death ever.

I think I should take a closer look at my room to get to know it better. There doesn’t seem to be anything weird on my bed. I then took a peek at the camera above my head. I wonder if covering it with paper counts as destroying… I got off my bed and walked towards the door next to the monitor. I opened it and went it. It was the toilet, the shower seemed pretty nice but I didn’t really like the glass. It looked like it could be easily scratched. Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything of interest here, I might as well continue checking the room. There are some cleaning supplies and a trash can, nothing interesting. I went towards the desk and noticed some drawers. I opened them and found a notepad and some stationary supplies. Guess, I can doodle if I ever get bored. I looked at the table and found some keys, they were probably my room keys, so I took them and put them in my pocket. I notice there was a paper poster above the shelf.

 

****“An announcement from Master Hand! The doors can be picked so be careful. However there aren’t many items here that can be used to open doors and it is very very hard to duplicate a key. There’s a shower in every room and don’t forget that the water doesn’t run at night. I’ve also prepared a special present for you! A notepad, so now you can write and draw whatever you want. You can used the paper to make invitations, or to write out plans, or to write fanfics if you’re into that kind of thing. If you do, please show it to me so that I can verify if it’s appropriate or not. Well, have a despairing day!”** **

****

… I took the paper and threw it in the trash. I need to go out and find the others. I ran out of my room and then just like in a scene from a romantic anime. I bumped into Zelda. The princess fell on the floor and let out a small “kyaa!”.

“Z-zelda, I-I’m so sorry! Are you all right?” I asked while helping her back up.

“I’m fine.” she smiled. “I’m the one who should be sorry. If I hadn’t come out here to call you…”

“Call me?”

“Yes! After you collapsed, Donkey Kong carried you here. We asked Master Hand if he could open the door for us. We then decided to split up so we could cover more ground. We’re supposed to meet at the cafeteria right now” Zelda explained to me. Guess it made sense to split up. I kinda feel useless now. I didn’t do anything to help. Zelda asked me if I wanted to walk to the cafeteria with her. I accepted naturally, before going I noticed that our rooms were next to each other.

 

* * *

 

 

We arrived into the cafeteria but it was empty. The others were probably still searching. Yoshi was the first to arrive. Zelda, Yoshi and I sat around a table and started talking. Yoshi talked about the time he babysat me. It was kinda embarrassing to hear someone talk about me when I was young. We were all laughing and I noticed that it was 7 pm. I spent almost my whole day asleep… Sure, I’m known for sleeping a lot. I was kinda surprised I wasn’t chosen as the “ultimate sleeper”, but still that was a lot for a first day of “school”.

Samus was the first to arrive, she slammed the doors and yelled “Sorry, I’m late!”. She then noticed that there were only three of us and got embarrassed. She decided to sit far from us to hide her embarrassment.

Soon after, the others started to come. A few minutes later, everyone was in the room. Yoshi then asked everyone to report their findings but Jigglypuff interrupted him saying that Kirby still hadn’t arrived. I hope nothing bad happened to him. Yoshi decided to start a meeting and said that somebody could just tell Kirby what was discovered.

Everyone said what they had found, or more like hadn’t found. The only useful things discovered were that the rooms were soundproof and that there was a stairway leading to a second floor but it was blocked off. Yoshi also said that Master Hand told him that the kitchen was filled with new ingredients everyday so we wouldn’t starve to death.

Kirby came in when we started talking about food. He then walked towards us and placed a sheet of paper on the table. It was a map of Hope’s Peak Academy’s first floor. It looked like the one on the handbook but it had an extra section. It confirmed that we were indeed in Hope’s Peak.

“I guess this investigation proves it.” Bayonetta started off.

“Proves what?” asked Captain Falcon.

“We are indeed trapped in Hope’s Peak Academy with no way out.”

“No way!”

Everyone faced slapped to the drivers response. But his obnoxious response was the only thing keeping us from breaking down into fear and anxiety. Donkey Kong then asked what we should do. Bayonetta suggested we invent our own rule.

“Going outside during night time should be forbidden.” she said.

“Do you suspect us of going out to kill each other?” grunted Fox angrily.

“No, her rule makes sense. For all we know, Master Hand might set traps or things that could brainwash us into killing each other.” explained Yoshi. After hearing this the floating hand appeared out of nowhere.

“That is a great idea! Thanks for tip, Yoshi-boy. But it would be boring if there was no real motive… Who would enjoy that?” the hand said before disappearing again. What does it matter if anyone enjoys that? That doesn’t change the fact that someone dies, but it would be better if the killer didn’t kill because of a motive I guess.

This left us all in a bad state of mind. Bayonetta left seemingly sad that nobody really cared for her night time rule.  The others left one by one and soon I decided I had to leave too. I grabbed a quick snack and headed to my room.

When I arrived I heard an announcement.

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

I collapsed on top of my bed and started to think about what had happened today. So this is how my first day at Hope’s Peak ends, huh? I closed my eyes attempting to sleep. Hopefully this was all a bad nightmare and when I’d wake up everything would go to normal.

 

* * *

 

 

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

I woke up the next morning or was it afternoon? I don’t even know if Master Hand’s clock is correct. It doesn’t matter much since I always end up sleeping a lot regardless of the time. I should probably go explore the school.

I took out my handbook to look at the school map. The school felt smaller than when I first saw it from the outside. I decided to head out of my room and made my way out. I ran into Samus and said hi. She seemed to be better than yesterday. We decided to walk to the cafeteria together.

In the cafeteria, I saw Kirby, Zelda and Jigglypuff. I said good morning to all of them and headed towards the kitchen. The kitchen was stocked with food. Lots of food. More than I could eat all alone. It also had equipment, kitchen knifes, various plates and glasses and so on. I hope someone here is a great cook. Yoshi and Luigi are probably good at cooking, I should ask them to make me something one day. I made myself a quick sandwich and left the cafeteria to look around the school.

I noticed opposite the cafeteria there was a taped door. Bath was written on a big wooden panel on top. Maybe it’s not working? I went to a door further to the right of the bath and went inside. I saw Mario in there. We had some small talk for a bit since there wasn’t anything to talk about.

I decided to head back towards the dorms and noticed there was a garbage disposal room. I went in but fled as quick as possible because of the disgusting smell. Yoshi noticed me and started a conversation.

“Hey, Link. Want to go for a walk with me?”

“Sure, there’s nothing better to do here.” I said forgetting about exploring the school.

We headed towards the small hall in front of the cafeteria. There was a door with a small panel saying “despair school”. It lead to the other side of the school. While walking I saw Ryu, Luigi and Fox fighting. It was really amusing to see them, it almost felt as if I was in a real school. I saw a door and went in. The room was small but packed with merchandise from video games and anime. I saw Cloud looking at them.

“They’ve actually got some really good merchandise. I’m surprised.” he muttered to himself not noticing we were in the room too.

“Why’s there a merch shop in our school?” I asked.

“This is Hope’s Peak. There have been ultimate gamers, animators and even cosplayers. So it makes sense to have something for them to enjoy just like sporty people and brainy people.” Yoshi explained.

We decided to let Cloud continue his look of the tiny shop and walked towards the entrance hall where we saw Donkey Kong and Ness playing card games. They were really into it.

Yoshi and I decided to go to the gym. On the way I noticed a red door and some blocked of staircases, I wonder where they lead to. We then spent some time looking at the trophies in front of the gym entrance. We talked about the achievement of Hope’s Peak and the conversation slowly turned into one about dreams.

“You know, Link. My dream is to make every single child in the world happy. That’s why after this fiasco ends and I graduate from Hope’s Peak for real. I’ll create a big charity to help children all around the world.” Yoshi seemed so passionate about his dream. I wish I had one too. I’m so normal compared to everyone else here.

“Do you think we’ll be trapped in here for long?” I asked my green friend. But when he heard my words he started to seem uncomfortable. It was like he was about to freak out but he somehow managed to calm himself down.

“Eh… How about we go do something else. I can make some food.”

 

* * *

 

 

While Yoshi was making food, I decided to go back to my room. I quickly got bored and decided to go back to the shop I saw earlier. Since there wasn’t anyone at the counter I assumed we could take what we wanted. I took some stuff and walked back towards my room. I noticed Zelda standing in front of my door. She asked me if I wanted to hang out.

“Since you’re the ultimate magician, how did you learn magic?” Zelda looked at me and smiled.

“It’s a family tradition. Every princess must learn magic. I learned it at a very young age and was considered a prodigy. I also loved watching magic shows and circuses. That really motivated me.” she explained to me.

“I’ve never been to a circus before. I heard the people that work there aren’t well treated. But it might not be the case for the ones you went to. Are circuses fun?”

“Yes! They’re the best. Clowns are simply adorable.” I think they’re the part people hate the most… They’re just so creepy. I could feel a disturbing smile creeping its way to my face. Zelda looked at me slightly disappointed but her smile quickly returned. She asked me about my puzzle solving talent.

“I spent most of my time as a kid playing all kinds of games. I don’t feel like I ever learned it. It was just all natural. I guess that’s what talent is supposed to be.” The young princess seemed genuinely interested in my talent. No one ever really cared about what I was good and bad at.

“Could you teach me how to solve a rubik’s cube?”

“Sure. Will you teach me how to use magic?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets.” The magician said pressing a finger over her mouth and with the blink of an eye she was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

I sighed and went to the cafeteria to see what Yoshi was cooking. By the time I arrived he had prepared two big bowls of pasta carbonara topped with an egg yolk. Staring at it made me really hungry and without thinking twice I dag into the meal set upon the table. The green fellow looked at me and laughed before eating his portion. We had a nice friendly chat before turning it into a serious talk.

“What do you think will happen?” the green guy asked.

“I hope that we can get out without anyone dying. But I think Master Hand will find a way to make at least someone die.” I replied with a gloomy look. “Do you think anyone here has the guts to kill someone else?”

“I know it’s bad to talk about the others behind their backs but… I think maybe Samus, Cloud or Fox. Their talents are somehow related to death. They’ve probably already seen it first hand.” Yoshi admitted looking at the floor as if he were embarrassed.

“I understand Cloud and Samus. But Fox doesn’t have a death related talent. He’s the ultimate captain because he saves people from it. He has courage and great leadership abilities. When he was young he managed to order a plane crew so that the plane they were on wouldn’t crash.”

“Oh, my. How terrible. I assumed his talent was military related… How terrible of me. Talking behind the back of my friend about something that isn’t true. I’m despicable…”

“You’re not despicable Yoshi!” I cried out. “Everyone assumes stuff about others. It’s a totally normal thing.”

“Thanks, Link. Promise to be careful around the others, okay?”

“I promise.”

“Don’t kill anyone?”

“I won’t. I’ll make sure no one dies.” After telling him that he left. I saw Kirby come in.

 

The pink puff told me he came to get food. I was a bit curious as to what he was going to take. My jaw dropped after seeing the ginormous pile of pizzas he took. How could someone so small eat that? Wait, he’s already done?

“Are you by any chance the Ultimate eater?” I asked him still in disbelief.

“I don’t know. I do remember having an eating contest with some students from the Brawl branch. It was one or two years ago.” he told me while I looked at him with awe.

“Who won the contest?”

“Well… We were fighting over a pizza that belonged to this… I’m not sure if they were a girl or a boy. Anyway, in the end, they got frustrated and ate the pizza with their red haired friend.” the puff carried on.

“Were those two also ultimates?”

“Yeah, but the redhead told me he and his friend were visiting with their class from the Melee branch. Maybe there’s a photo of their class in this building.”

“That would be great” I started. “But I don’t think there are any archives on this floor. If only there was a way to go to another floor.” I sighed. Kirby shrugged and told me he was going back to his room.

 

I was about to head back to my room too, but I saw Ness all alone. It’s gotta be tough on him, he’s so young. I then decided to spend some time with the kid. He told me about his family and his life as a psychic.

“Hey, Link. Do you have a family?”

“I hope I still do. If Master Hand has managed to lock us in and the police hasn’t come, he might have done something to our families.” After saying that the little boy turned pale. “Uh… Of course, that’s highly unlikely! Master Hand is probably keeping us hostage and everything outside is fine.”

“I wish I had cool psychic powers. I’m completely useless in this situation…”

“Don’t say that! Just because you haven’t had your chance to yet, doesn’t mean you never will! Everyone has a role to play.” I encouraged him.

“You’re really good at supporting people. I wish I could be like you. But I’m so shy… I could never managed to tell my mom that my true dream was to be a baseball player.” the young boy confided.

“I don’t get why anyone would want to be like me. I’m not that great, I don’t even have a dream. There are also nicer people like Luigi and Yoshi.” I blurted out.

“I’ve never spoken to Luigi. Yoshi kinda scares me… He seems to good to be true but I’ve probably seen to many horror films.”

“I feel like you and Luigi would be good friends. I could introduce you to him later.” I suggested to the brunette. He thanked me and said he’d go make a list of things he could do with Luigi.

 

I wonder what Luigi’s like… Well speak of the devil! He just appeared like a wild pokémon. I decided to tell him about Ness and he seemed enthusiastic about meeting him. Good for them, I guess. The Italian started to talk about his family too.

“So you come from a proud family of plumbers?”

“Yes-a, Mario’s the family’s-a pride. His-a plumbing is-a renowned among rich-a people, he-a brought my-a family money. He’s-a worked in the houses of-a many powerful people and even-a royalty like the-a Toadstools.” he explained. I could sense from his tone that he was proud of his brother but felt some envy. He felt he was in his brother’s shadow. “I’ve-a been supporting him all-a this time. I’ve even had-a the chance to-a work with him when he-a went to the-a Toadstools. The family-a loved us…”

“Maybe they told the academy about your supportive nature and that’s how you got in here with you brother.” I hypothesized. Luigi looked at me hesitantly and told me he had never considered that.

“But what-a kind of-a little brother never stands-a up to his-a older brother?”

“I’m sure one day you will. Mario’s probably not telling you anything because he’s waiting for you to do it by yourself. He trusts you will be able to defy him someday when he does something wrong”

The plumber’s expression changed. His aura also changed. I could feel that he would get stronger with this situation. I definitely want to see how he evolves and I hope we get to be friends.

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

I should head back for real this time. Once I was in my room, I got changed and jumped on my bed. I could feel that a part of me was hoping this was just a dream. But the logical side of my brain was telling me this was my new life. One of despair…

 

* * *

 

 

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

I hate waking up at 7am. I hate waking up period. Sometimes I wish I could spend my whole time sleeping. I should go eat breakfast. I was feeling quite hungry.

I rushed to the cafeteria and got some cereal in the kitchen. I saw Cloud sitting alone, so I joined him.

“Have you ever heard of people having more than one talent?” the blond asked me.

“No, is that even possible?”

“Of course it is. There’s no rule saying someone can’t have more than one talent. I’ve got more talent than just being a mercenary.” he bragged arrogantly.

“You do? What kind of talent?”

“I’m great at riding ostriches. No one does that, it’s quite unique. If it wasn’t for the fact that there are so many swordsmen, I could have also been one. I heard that some students had to be given random talents because there were too many swordsmen.” he explained to me. “I do have a third talent… It’s really embarrassing.”

“What is it?”

“Cross-dressing.” he blushed. “I’m glad I’m not in this school for my amazing cross-dressing skills.”

“Being good at cross-dressing could be useful depending on the scenario.”

“Is your second talent being always able to find something nice to say?”

I shrugged at his question.

 

Sometime later, I went to the entrance hall and saw Ryu chilling out.

“Do you have an idols?” I asked the martial artist.

“I have very high respect for people who train hard. I also strongly respect super heroes. Besides fighters, I do like cooks and comic writers. They produce to of my favorite things besides fighting: food and super hero comics.” he revealed to me happily.

“You never seemed to me like someone who was into comics. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s great to like things besides your talent.”

“That’s quite true, Link. For all of us, actually. Ness likes baseball, Mario and Luigi like cooking, Captain Falcon likes hot girls, Donkey Kong likes bananas…” the fighter went on.

“I think that’s just his nature though.” I laughed, Ryu followed with a huge laughter. “I may not look like it but I really like riding horses. I used to go with my cousin Link to a barn belonging to a family friend. We’d ride on a horse called Epona.” I revealed after catching my breath.

“Wait, your cousin is called Link?”

“It’s a weird family tradition… The oldest child must be called Link, but once someone in the family had an oldest daughter so she was called Linkle.” I explained.

“It’s a bit like Zelda’s family. They’re all called Zelda. I’m gonna go eat breakfast now. See ya later!”

 

I took a walk and met up with Bayonetta. She started to talk about witch craft but it all sounded like Chinese to me.

“What’s your favorite animal, Link?” the witch asked.

“Horses.”

“Mine are butterflies. I’ve loved them since I was small. I spent time drawing them with my childhood friends. It was really fun. I wasn’t good at drawing though.” she let me know.

“I’m not good at drawing either. I’d rather just look at drawings.”

“Most people would rather just look at drawings. But not me. I want specific drawings. Have you ever heard of bondage?”

“T-that’s not appropriate for school!” I yelled while blushing.

“No need to be embarrassed. I just enjoy teasing people. My friends called me a sadist.” she sighed. No wonder her friends though she was a sadist, her hobby is embarrassing people. “I’m not that sadistic. I do like little kids.”

“To take care or to torture?” I asked nervously. She replied “both” jokingly and left.

 

I spent some time in my room. I heard a knock on my door so I went to open it. It was Captain Falcon.

“What do you need?”

“Help.” he said with a funny ‘serious’ expression. I was about to slam the door but he put his foot to stop me from closing the door. “I need advice.”

“What kind of advice?”

“How do I get a girl to like me?” he cried out with the seriousness only found in comedy anime.

“How should I know?”

“You’re very good friends with Zelda.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I want to get Samus to like me.” I almost screamed at his revelation but I managed to calm myself down.

“You’ve only known her for a few days.”

“But I totally love her!” he yelled. I sighed and told him that forcing his way into Samus’ life was not the way to go. He seemed happy with my mediocre advice but that made him go away. Geez, how is someone so obnoxious?

 

After that conversation I felt hungry. In the cafeteria, Fox started talking to me about his adventures in the skies. I quickly grew tired of his stories so I tried to change the conversation’s topic.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“Hm… Chicken is nice.”

“I’m not really sure what mine is. I guess I like making ‘potions’ with fruits and juices. It’s kinda like in video games.” I told him.

“I wish I was good at making food. I’ve spent so much time in planes that I never get the chance to try out cooking. I wonder if those two Italians are good at making pizza.”

“I hope they are. It would be nice to eat pizza for dinner.” I said while fantasizing about pizzas.

“It feels like it’s been really long since I’ve eaten good food. Airplane food sucks.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“Once I graduate, I want to create a company that makes good airplane food.” the fox threw his fist in the air.

“I think you’ll be doing the world a huge favor.” I told him.

 

After lunch, Jigglypuff asked me if I wanted to hang out with her. She said she wanted someone to help her practice her singing. She took me to her room and she started singing. She sung really well, it even made me fall asleep. When I woke up I felt something on my face.

“Hm, what happened?” I asked.

“You fell asleep while I was singing so I drew on your face!” she blurted out.

“I guess I deserve that…”

“Everyone falls asleep when I have live shows without a special filter on the mic and speakers.” the pokémon muttered. “It’s such a waste of my talent. If it weren’t for this guy called Junichi Masuda, I would have never been able to have anyone hear my singing.”

“But isn’t it a good thing that someone was able to find a way to make you capable of singing live without making everyone fall asleep?’

“Yes, that’s why I’m really grateful to him and all his colleagues who helped out. I suddenly feel inspired to write a new song. Would you mind leaving me alone?” she asked. I said goodbye and went back to my room.

 

I took a nap until Mario woke me up to call me for dinner. I was really happy we got to eat pizza and it tasted great. After eating everyone except Mario and I left.

“Link, do you-a think Luigi will-a be able to-a handle this?” he asked.

“I think he’s worried right now, but he’ll get over it. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it.”

“I hope-a so… He’s always-a been easily scared. He once-a got trapped in a mansion for one-a night and he was really-a traumatized afterwards.” After this statement Mario took a cloth and started to wipe the table. “I’m-a hoping no one is-a thinking about killing anyone. I won’t-a be able to forgive-a them if they do.”

“You’re right. It would be better if we all worked together. Master Hand just wants us to suffer”

“How could-a someone want to-a do something so-a horrible like-a forcing innocent students to-a doubt each other.”

We both sighed and stayed silent for a minute. We both parted ways after a while.

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

I’m starting to hate this announcement. I need to sleep…

 

* * *

 

 

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

I woke up but didn’t feel hungry. I was still full from yesterday’s pizza. I walked around the halls doing nothing for about thirty minutes. Pikachu saw me and decided to hang out with me.

“I knew this really cool guy. He was really cool.” the yellow pokémon cheered.

“Can you use more adjectives to describe him?”

The little guy closed his eyes seemingly trying to imitate a cartoon character trying to concentrate. “He was so cool he didn’t even speak.”

“What’s his name?”

“Red.”

“Isn’t he the Ultimate pokémon master?” I asked him.

“Yeah! He’s cool. He goes to the Brawl branch. Do you know anyone there?” the yellow creature asked.

“I think one of my cousins goes there. He’s really tiny.”

“How does he open the door?”

“He’s not that tiny. He’s really short.” I corrected.

“You’re pretty short. Does it run in the family?”

“Kinda.”

Pikachu laughed at my reply and ran off somewhere. He was a really weird pikachu.

 

I walked into the cafeteria only to see Donkey Kong eating a huge stack of bananas. It took all my energy to not burst out laughing. The gorilla noticed me and asked me to join him.

“Do you love bananas?” I asked trying to initiate small talk.

“Yes, among other fruits. I’m not obsessed with bananas.” Sure, sure… “My nephew Diddy is obsessed with peanuts.” I’m starting to really love this Donkey Kong guy. “Do you like music?”

“Yeah. I’m not that good though. I can play a few songs on an ocarina, but that’s only because of a game I played.”

“At least you tried something out. I almost never tried out drumming but my nephew insisted I should. It’s a really lame origin story.”

“Not every origin story can be filled with angst.”

“That’s true.” the Kong admitted. “My back story is full of happy moments with my family. How about yours?”

“Nothing special. Just me and my parents. Happy moments and sad moments.”

“It’s better to have a normal childhood then a crazy traumatizing one, that’s for sure. I’m gonna go take a nap. See ya.”

And so the gorilla left. I returned to my room and took a nap the whole afternoon.

 

Once I woke up, I decided to go to the merch shop. Samus was in there looking at some comics.

“I don’t get why people love these comics so much.” she said.

“Probably because they like the characters or the art style.”

“But why read it when you can do it!”

“Not everyone has the means to do what they want.”

“I see. What do you want to do?” the blonde inquired.

“I don’t really know. I just want to get out of here.” I admitted.

“I think everyone wants to get out.” she stayed silent for a moment. “We shouldn’t let anyone get tempted by Master Hand. No one should fall into despair.”

The words triggered a thought. I suddenly remembered the first day we arrived here. We were full of hope and we got slapped in the face with despair.

“... We should go eat.” Samus said.

“You’re right.”

 

I went to eat with everyone. It was a pretty boring meal. No one was talking that much, I felt pretty lonely despite being surrounded by people. I talked a bit with Zelda and Yoshi before going back to my room.

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

I’m feeling so tired. I hope nothing happens tonight. I don’t want to believe that someone will kill but I can’t help but feel that something will make a student here do the unthinkable. Right now all I can do is sleep and hope for the best tomorrow…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to do some mini free time events with everyone so that we could get to know a bit about everyone.  
> Next chapter there will only be 3. You can request a character that will spend time with Link. If no one requests anything, I'll just use a random generator.


	3. Chapter 1- Lives Smashed - Daily Life part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link is living his normal(?) life in school, but one day Master Hand announces that there will be a motive. What will happen when the students know about the motive? Will everyone work together or will someone take the bait?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

It’s already morning? I should go eat breakfast. I could spend some time with someone afterwards.

 

After eating, I decided to go hang out with Yoshi. We went for a little walk and ended up in the dormitory area.

“Don’t you think it’s getting kinda boring in here?” Yoshi asked me.

“I guess it is. But if it means no one will die than I’ll gladly accept this boredom” I replied to my friend.

“Sore wa chigau yo!” I heard an all too familiar voice say. “Wrong, totally wrong. If no one dies this will be boring. No one likes a story with no drama or deaths. Boredom sucks!” Soon after finishing his sentence Master Hand disappeared leaving Yoshi and I alone.

“People always think about the plot and never about what characters might be feeling.” I complained.

“Yeah, but I understand why they do. If we were watching a movie of this scenario with all of us replaced with new characters, we’d probably be waiting for people to start killing each other. But since we’re in the ones that are being forced to endure this crazy situation, we would rather be bored than see any of our friends die. It’s normal double standards.” the green guy explained to me. It’s as if he could understand what anyone felt even the opposing sides…

“But it’s not as if we’re being watched by anyone besides the psycho behind all of this.”

“I guess that’s true. Maybe if we stay bored the ‘mastermind’ will let us out. They won’t be able to see the point in keeping us here.”

“That’s a pretty good idea. You’re really good at seeing others weaknesses.”

“Thanks. Well, see you later.” Yoshi waved before heading back to his room.

 

After Yoshi left, I decided to head back to my room for a little nap. The nap was suddenly interrupted because of a certain obnoxious driver’s knock. I sighed and opened the door to let Captain Falcon in. He told me we had to have a ‘guy’ talk and took me to the cafeteria. He grabbed a packet of pink cookies and started telling me a story.

“This cookie is me and this cookie is you.” he said while pointing at two identical looking cookies.

“Eh… They both look the same too me.”

“Yes, but they’re not the same.”

“What are you getting at?”

“We’re all ultimates here but we’re all different.” he said trying to sound philosophical and smart. I wanted to reply but I couldn’t come up with anything that wasn’t a tiny bit insulting. Captain Falcon noticed my silence and sighed.

“I’m never going to be able to say something smart”

“That’s not true… I’m sure if you were to talk about something only you know…”

“Thanks, Link. But don’t lie to me, I know I’m not the brightest of the bunch.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before I decided to raise my voice again.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you want to say smart things?”

“Well, there’s this girl who thinks I’m stupid and I want to prove her wrong by saying some impressive stuff!” the masked guy explained emotionally.

“You’re definitely proving her right by trying to be someone else. Maybe you should try just being yourself. But I’m pretty sure that by talking about something you like you’ll sound smart.”

“Let’s see. I like driving, it’s my ultimate talent after all. But besides that, I enjoy bounty hunting in my free time. I like to think that I’m pretty good for an amateur.” Captain Falcon said proudly before shifting his expression to a depressed one. “But Samus probably thinks I’m terrible.”

I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care. I should probably change the topic.

“So… Is Captain Falcon your actual name?”

“That’s my driver name. My actual name is Douglas Jay Falcon. Is your name really Link?” he replied sarcastically.

“Yes, and so are all my other cousins.”

“I see. I had a good time today, Link. See ya later.”

 

After my chat with Captain Falcon, I went out of the cafeteria and wandered aimlessly through the hallways. Samus noticed me and started a conversation.

“So… What kind of bounty hunting do you do?” I asked hesitantly.

“I am under orders not tell. What kind of puzzle solving do you do?”

“Uh… Any, I guess.”

“This conversation is going nowhere. What do you dislike?”

“Uh… Waking up early is a pain. What about you?”

“Dirt. Dirty stuff in general. That’s why I must cleanse this world from evil.” the tall blonde told me. I honestly couldn’t tell if that last part was supposed to be serious or not.

“I’m sorry this conversation isn’t going anywhere. I’m not very good at socializing. Can you teach me how to be good at it?” she muttered.

“H-huh? I’m not that good to be honest. Talking about things you like is better than talking about what you don’t.”

“I see. What’s your favorite animal? Mine are birds. They’re really cute.”

“I like horses, the-”

“Horses, yes. Beautiful creatures indeed. I should ask everyone what their favorite animal is. Thank you for all your help, Link.”

 

The blonde ran towards the cafeteria and I was left alone and confused. I returned to my room after eating dinner and went straight to bed after taking a shower.

 

* * *

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

“It’s been… almost a week… When will we be able to leave this place?” I sighed to myself before collapsing on my bed and falling asleep.

 

* * *

 

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

I am really hating this announcement more and more everyday. To think I might have to listen to it for the rest of my life. Wait, what am I thinking? There’s no way I’d stay here forever. Right after thinking that I heard a my door bell ring. I walked towards the door and opened it slowly.

“Good morning.” I heard a woman’s voice say.

“B-bayonetta? What are you doing here?” I asked the witch.

“Please, call me Bayo. Anyway, Luigi has come up with an idea and he told me to go get everyone. He wants us all to meet at the cafeteria.” Bayonetta explained to me. She waved me goodbye and left my room.

 

Once I got to the cafeteria I noticed that Luigi had rearranged the tables. A long table stood in the middle of the room and the smaller ones were close to the walls and blocked off windows. I sat on a chair between Samus and Ness. After everyone had arrived Luigi raised his voice.

“T-thank y-you f-for-a c-coming!” the young plumber stuttered. “I-a have gathered you all-a here to request-a something. I think we should-a hold morning meetings to get to-a know each other-a better and-a also to report-a findings.”

“That’s a pretty good idea, Luigi. Maybe this way we’ll be able to make progress.” Ness said happily. “So has anyone made any discoveries?”

Silence followed his question. No one had made any progress.

“I guess we could try and theorize about who’s all behind this.” Kirby suggested. Pikachu followed with a remark about how this wasn’t this weird show about theories some of his friends watched.

“Maybe… We’re actually in a virtual reality game!” yelled Captain Falcon.

Everyone face slapped at his idea. If this was a virtual reality we’d be dead after two days, our bodies wouldn’t survive without water.

“It could have been a crazy serial killer who put us in this situation. Only a psychotic and twisted person would want to put innocent students in such a cruel scenario!” exclaimed Jigglypuff. Her idea, unlike Captain Falcon’s, seemed plausible.

“Let’s say that is the case. How come there hasn’t been anyone from the outside world who’s tried contacting us?” Samus asked.

“The windows are covered in metal plates. The police is probably trying to get in right now to come save us.” answered Yoshi.

Suddenly Master Hand appeared laughing.

“Yoshi-boy, you’re way too optimistic! The police will not have any role in this story. The only way out is by killing.” he laughed. We all looked at him in silence.

“Man, you guys are boring. I mean you’ve got character but you’re not doing anything. Why won’t someone kill already?”

“No one’s going to kill anybody” I yelled at the hand.

“You’re right! If things go this way no one will die. I am missing the most important part of murder.”

“What part?” Ryu wondered.

“Motive.”

“M-motive?”

“Yes, motive, Ryu-boy. I want you all to come to the computer room.”

 

* * *

 

 

We all finished our breakfasts and started to head towards the computer room. Once there I noticed that the computers where really high quality. I wonder if there are any games here… I should probably stop thinking about that.

While looking around I saw a small box full of DVDs. Each disk had a name written on it. So there’s one for everyone, huh? I gave everyone their respective disk and sat in front of a computer. I put mine in the DVD player and a video started to play.

It was about my family. My family was congratulating me and wishing me luck in Hope’s Peak.

That was anticlimactic. It’s just a simple encouragement video. What a waste of time…

I was about to take the DVD out until I noticed the video turning into noise and then to a new scene. The location was the same as the first scene but it was destroyed. Part of the place was on fire and my family was gone.

I wanted to scream but nothing came out of my mouth. W-what happened there? D-did something happen to my family? My head was flooding with questions.

Some text suddenly appeared on the screen.

“What happened to Link’s family? Find out after graduation!”

W-what’s this? I can’t stop shaking. There’s no way this is real. I felt fear and anger taking over my body as I hit the table twice.

“I need to get out!” I yelled. Suddenly I noticed almost everyone was also screaming and shaking. The only calm people were Bayonetta, Samus and Cloud. I didn’t know if they were the luckiest or the unluckiest, for all I knew they were more scared than anyone else.

“It appears as though Master Hand’s trying to make us lose trust in each other.” the witch said.

“So he’s giving us a motive that would make us want to leave to the point we’d kill. That’s just awful.” the blonde bounty hunter added.

“Maybe if everyone says what their movie was about we won’t betray each other.” suggested Kirby.

“Uh, Zelda… What was yours about?” I asked.

When I asked her that, I hadn’t noticed she was shaking. I tried to approach her but she ran out of the room. Everyone left afterwards.

Everyone was scared… Everyone was worried… Everyone was despairing…

I decided to look for Zelda. I asked some people if they had seen her by chance but no one knew. She wasn’t answering her door either. Maybe she’s somewhere else.

I searched all the rooms for a while and I finally found her in a classroom. It was the classroom where I had woken up. Right at the start of this madness.

Zelda sat in a corner crying. I tried comforting her but she wouldn’t stop crying. I had never seen someone so sad and hopeless.

“Zelda, it will all be fine. If whatever you saw is true then there must be an uproar going on outside. The police… No, the government must be looking for a way to get in. Master Hand’s just lying. So, please calm down.” While saying those last few words, I felt like I was talking more to myself as images of what I had seen flashed through my mind. “If we all work together, I’m sure we’ll all be able to escape.”

“B-but what if help never comes…”

“Then I’ll get you… No, everyone out by any means possible.”

Suddenly, the princess hugged me out of the blue. She was still in tears but she managed to pull out a faint smile and thank me. We then made vows to always be friends and her happiness returned.

“What a touching scene.” I heard an all too familiar voice say. “My teddy Monokuma and I just won’t stop crying…” Master Hand said while squishing a weird black and white teddy bear.

“You don’t even have eyes!” I yelled.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. I can still ship, you know.” the hand said squeezing the teddy so hard that it broke. “Monokuma, no!!! I must fix you. You’ll pay for this, Link.”

 

* * *

 

 

And so, after Master Hand ruined what could have been one of the best moments in my life, I went back to the dormitory area with Zelda. I told her to go rest and went to tell everyone she was fine now.

I went back to my room. I needed to clear my mind. Seriously, what was up with that video? It’s just creating more problems. I don’t even know which one is the biggest one. Is it finding a way out? Is it the video? Is it Master Hand? Whoever is behind all of this? Ourselves?

…

I want to get out… But I don’t want to kill anyone. Does everyone think the same? Maybe that’s…

 

***ding dong***

 

I opened the door and saw Zelda. She was shivering.

“Link, I feel as if someone tried to go in my room. There were strange noises outside my room. I checked but there wasn’t anyone. I’m not suspecting anyone. It could just be Master Hand but I’m feeling scared.”

“We could swap rooms, I fall asleep easily so the noises won’t be any problem.” I blurted out.

“Really? Thanks. We should also swap keys.”

We exchanged keys and the blonde girl told me to be careful and not open the door if someone knocked.

 

I left the room and headed to Zelda’s. Her room was nice and clean but it didn’t look that different from mine. I decided to not look into her stuff, it’s not like she’d be hiding anything anyway. I should go to sleep now.

 

*****Bing Bong Ding Dong**** *

 

****“This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!”** **

 

I lied my head on top of the pillow and quickly fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

*****Ding Dong Bing Bong**** *

 

****“It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day**** ”

 

I woke up feeling energized for once. The room swap really was a good idea. I went to the cafeteria and saw there were already some people waiting.

 

“Good morning, Link.”

“Hi, Zelda. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, much more. We can start eating while waiting.” Zelda handed me a plate of fruit salad. The fruits looked really fresh, pretty weird considering our current situation though.

“Fruit salad? When are we going to have bacon?” Fox grunted while entering the cafeteria.

“Fox, you’re all wet.” Pikachu laughed.

“I didn’t get to take my shower in time yesterday. Who came up with the idea of blocking off the water at night?” the canine complained. The students present laughed and soon Fox was laughing himself.

“Pikachu, can you pass me the honey?” Cloud asked. Pikachu grabbed the honey but accidentally dropped it. The table ended up covered in honey and so did Zelda’s shirt.

“Zelda, I’m so sorry!” the yellow critter cried.

“It’s fine, Pikachu. Accidents happen. I’ll just go change my shirt.” the princess said while leaving.

I continued to eat and chat with some of the others. It was fun until Bayonetta ran into the cafeteria yelling.

“Guys, you need to come! Quickly, to Zelda’s room!” she shouted. We all ran behind her back to the dormitory. Zelda’s… No, my door was open.

The scene awaiting me was beyond my belief. I took a glance and there I saw it.

Blood was covering the floor and on top of it lay a bloody knife. Zelda was sitting on the floor crying, it was as if she had collapsed and couldn’t get up. I lifted my head and saw a body. A g-green body and a red shell next to it. Both covered in blood. I now understood why Zelda collapsed. Yoshi had been killed. Brutally killed.

I was wrong, I had never been so wrong. One of us really wanted everyone to die… To suffer… To despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah… Yoshi’s dead… Next time is the investigation, I’ve already got everything planned. The investigations and trials are what will diverge the most from the game. The plot twists will be different too. I’ve already planned them all.  
> Thanks for reading! This chapter was supposed to come out one week ago but I caught a cold and had a geography test. That made it hard to write the free time events, that and I wanted to finish Island Mode in Danganronpa 2. What is it with Komaeda and his aborted love confessions?  
> See you next chapter :)


	4. Chapter 1 - Lives Smashed - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding Yoshi dead, Link and the other students must investigate in preparation for the class trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever because of vacations and school :P And it's so short... 
> 
> I've also come up with surnames for every character that doesn't have a canon one, I'll put them in the end notes.

“A body has been discovered! May all the living students please go to the gym.” I heard Master Hand say through the intercom.

Everyone remained silent and quickly headed to the gym where we were greeted by the floating Hand.

“You killed Yoshi!” yelled Pikachu making Master Hand laugh. The hand denied it and said he could only hurt us if we broke the school rules.

“The one who killed Yoshi is one of you! Someone wanted to graduate, so they killed him. The killer knows it.”

I looked at everyone’s face’s to see their reactions. It seemed as though confusion and nervousness was taking over their spirits. It was just plain silence. No one was saying anything until Fox broke the silence.

“So… If someone really is the killer do they now get to graduate?” The hand laughed at his question.

“You’re all so naive, there’s no way I’d make graduation so boring. Let me further explain the rules. You still need to kill to graduate. You need to make sure no one finds out. And to make sure you get away with it, we’ll have a class trial. It will begin a few hours after the body is discovered. The killer will become a ‘blackened’ whereas the innocent will be ‘whitened’. You’ll debate among yourselves who the ‘blackened’ is and vote at the end of the trial. If you’re correct the ‘blackened’ will be punished and you’ll continue living normally. On the other hand, if you’re wrong. The ‘whitened’ will be punished and the ‘blackened’ will graduate. It’ll be the end of the communal life. Did you understand?”

“Uh, what’s the punishment?” asked Jigglypuff.

“Execution, duh. I’ve added the rules to your e-handbook.”

Nobody spoke and everyone checked their handbook. The new rules appeared. Damn him, I can’t believe someone will be executed and if we vote wrong everyone will die…

“Well, it’s about time you guys get investigating!”

“Investigating?” wondered Samus.

“Yeah. I’ll give you a file I’ve written with details of the death. It’s called a Master File, it will be uploaded on your e-handbooks shortly. You guys are huge amateurs, no way you’d know what the cause of death was.”

“How do you know what the cause of death is?”

“Well, Sammy, I saw it all happen. Good luck with your investigation! Not that you actually need to investigate… I’ll call you all for the trial, see ya later!”

And just like that the hand disappeared. What were we supposed to do now? Everyone was scared and confused. There was a killer among us.

“We should start investigating. It’s not like distrusting everyone will do us any good now.” suggested Fox.

“You’re right.” Kirby added. “We should also have to persons guard the corpse in… The room we found Yoshi. How about… Ness and Luigi?”

The two agreed, they didn’t seem in the mood for investigating. They both seem unable to hurt a fly. I doubt they killed Yoshi. The two headed out and so did some others.

I should start investigating. I took out my e-handbook and turned it on. I heard Navi’s voice and immediately regretted my decision. But now’s not the time. I opened the Master File and read it.

****The victim was Yoshi Hino. The time of his death is estimated to be around 1am. The body was discovered in Link’s room. The cause of death was multiple blows to the head with a blunt object, it appears as though Yoshi took some time before dying. His shell was cut off after his death.** **

That’s pretty weird. Why would the killer bother cutting of his shell? Suddenly I saw a notification from Navi.

****Hey, Link, listen! You can note things you discover in your e-handbook. It will allow you to keep track and not forget what you found. They will all be under the name truth bullet. Don’t ask why it’s called like that.** **

“That’s pretty useful.” I said out loud while adding the Master File as ‘Truth bullet #1’.

 

* * *

 

I decided the best place to begin was at the crime scene itself. In my room, I saw Luigi and Ness looking sad while Fox and Kirby investigated. I gulped before approaching the corpse to take a closer look.

I glanced at his detached shell. The blood looked so disgusting…

“That’s weird. Isn’t the blood fresh?” I heard Fox say.

Hm… That was definitely strange. It seems to have been cut off using a sharp object.

****Truth bullet #2** **

****The shell seems to have been cut off using a knife. The blood on it is fresh.** **

While looking, I noticed the blood on the head was dry whereas the blood on the bed was still wet.

****Truth bullet #3** **

****The blood on Yoshi’s head is dry. All the blood around him is fresh.** **

I looked next to his body and saw a bloody kitchen knife. It looked a bit broken on the tip.

****Truth bullet #4** **

****There’s a knife next to the body. It appears to be a kitchen knife and it’s covered in blood. The tip seem to be chipped for some unknown reason.** **

I was about to leave when I noticed that there was no blood anywhere else in the room. Everything looked normal, there was no sign of any struggle in the room.

****Truth bullet #5** **

****The bed is covered in fresh blood. There isn’t any blood anywhere else in the room.** **

“Hey, Link” the pink puff called out. “Come over here!”

I walked towards him and he showed me the bathroom.

“The shower’s still wet. Maybe Zelda took a shower…” It’s kinda weird. If Yoshi died at 1am and Zelda took a shower after 7am, she’d know about Yoshi being dead…

“That’s not the best part. There are some blood stains. Maybe the killer tried to wash it off… But if there’s no blood in the room, shouldn’t only his hands be covered in blood? Why did he use the shower instead of the sink?”

“Uh… I guess we’ll figure it out at the trial.”

****Truth bullet #6** **

****The shower is still wet. It seems as though someone took a shower not long after 7 am. There are a few blood stains on the floor.** **

“We should go to the kitchen.” I told Kirby “That’s the only place the knife could come from.”

 

* * *

 

We walked to the kitchen and started investigating. Nothing seem out of place for now… I checked the knife stand just to make sure. A knife WAS missing.

****Truth bullet #7** **

****One of the knives from the knife stand is missing. Someone must have taken it.** **

“Hey, Kirby… Do you think Zelda…”

“There’s no way. I spent my evening in here with Ryu. He taught me how to make sushi. Zelda never came in… You never came in... I swear it, just ask Ryu. But I do remember seeing a missing knife, I just assumed Ryu put it in the dishwasher.”

****Truth bullet #8** **

****Kirby is sure he remembers one knife being gone. He swears that neither Link nor Zelda ever came in while he was in there with Ryu.** **

Ryu came in quickly for some reason.

“The knife… It’s not here! That’s where the killer got it. I’m never going to be able to eat anything again… Why’s the stove dirty?” he muttered looking at the stove.

It was covered in ashes and a few blood stains. Did the killer try to destroy evidence using the stove?

****Truth bullet #9** **

****It appears the killer used the stove to create a fire and destroy the evidence of something. There are some ashes around the stove and some blood stains.** **

The stove wasn’t the only thing covered in ashes. The sink has some too. Did the killer try to get rid of the ashes in a rush?

****Truth bullet #10** **

****It seem as though the killer tried to destroy some evidence by throwing the ashes of something they burned down the drain.** **

“There’s an empty bottle in the trash. All this investigating is making me hungry. I’m gonna eat now.” Kirby yawned and grabbed a packet of chips.

… The killer couldn’t have come here before 7am and the water doesn’t work before that time. They must have used the water from the bottle to drain the ashes.

****Truth bullet #11** **

****A bottle of water is empty. The killer must have used the water to drain the ashes down the drain.** **

 

* * *

 

I was going to head back to my room but an idea hit me. I should check Yoshi’s room. It might have a clue regarding his killer. I tried opening his door but it was locked.

“Maybe if we call Master Hand, he’ll open the door.” Cloud said while walking towards me.

“Uh… I guess you could try.”

“Hey, Master Hand!!! Open this door!!!” the blond yelled making the hand appear.

“You can’t order me around! I’m your teacher! If it shuts you up I’ll open it.” The mercenary smirked as Master Hand unlocked the door.

“Jeeze… Kids this day, thinking they can order everyone around. If you’re not careful, I’ll send my monokuma plushy to kidnap you. Bye bye.”

As I opened the door, the lamp on the floor caught my eye. It was unplugged. I picked the lamp up to examine it and notice some faint pink on it… It looks like blood…

****Truth bullet #12** **

****Yoshi’s lamp has some faint blood stains on it. It’s cable is also disconnected from the plug.** **

That apparently wasn’t the only weird thing, the bed looked as if no one had ever touched it.

****Truth bullet #13** **

****The sheets seem like they have never been touched.** **

“There’s so much blood on the carpet…” I said.

“There’s a blood trail leading towards the bathroom. It seems a body was dragged here” Cloud mentioned.

****Truth bullet #14** **

****The carpet has some blood on it. It’s as if a body had been dragged around on the floor. It leads to the bathroom.** **

The blond opened the bathroom door and made a disgusted face.

“Man, it stinks in here… Who put blood in the toilet bowl?”

I took a peak and understood the disgust he was feeling. That’s not where you usually find blood…

****Truth bullet #15** **

****The toilet bowl’s water is full of blood.** **

“Fuck Link.”

“Huh?”

“Yoshi or the killer must hate you and have bad hand writing. Look at how badly carved it is.”

Cloud pointed to the shower glass where the carving was. It was really sloppy, it looked as if two different people had written it.

****Truth bullet #16** **

****There’s a sloppy message carved in the shower glass. It has fuck in small letters and Link is written bigger after it. The two writings appear to be different.** **

There was also a piece of paper in the shower. I picked it up and read it:

****Meet me in my room at 1 am - Yoshi** **

Huh? Why would Yoshi want to meet someone at 1am.

****Truth bullet #17** **

****A message written on a paper was laying in the shower. It reads “Meet me in my room at 1 am - Yoshi”.** **

“The mirror’s broken.” said Cloud. I walked towards it and noticed a piece missing.

****Truth bullet #18** **

****The mirror is cracked and a piece is missing.** **

 

* * *

 

I went out of Yoshi’s room and realized the missing piece was on the floor. I must have missed it earlier.

****Truth bullet #19** **

****A piece of Yoshi’s mirror was found laying on the floor in front of his dorm room.** **

I’m not sure where to look now… Maybe I should look for Zelda. Oh, there’s Bayonetta. Maybe she knows where Zelda.

I asked Bayonetta about Zelda’s whereabouts and she told she had seen Zelda go to the storage room.

“Link, I don’t know if this is of any use… But in the morning, I saw your room with the door open. Zelda went in it and then I heard her screaming.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

****Truth bullet #20** **

****Bayonetta claims she saw Link’s door open and Zelda going in and screaming.** **

 

* * *

 

I joined Zelda in the storage room and started investigating. The room was full of boxes with different things in them. I saw an open box and checked it. It was full of bed sheets, I can’t tell if any have been taken since it’s so messy.

****Truth bullet #21** **

****There are boxes in the room. One seems to have been opened and contains bed sheets.** **

“Link, it appears a packet of paper clips are missing.”

****Truth bullet #22** **

****A packet of paper clips seems to be missing.** **

“Hey, Zelda. Bayo told me your door was open before you went back.”

“Yes. When I went back my door was unlocked but I never gave anyone my keys.”

****Truth bullet #23** **

****Zelda says she never gave anyone Link’s keys but when she got to his room to use the toilet, the door was unlocked.** **

“Hm… Master Hand! I have a question.” I yelled.

“What is it now, Link? You’ve bothered me enough today.”

“Can the doors be picked?”

“Hm, yeah… If you know how to.”

****Truth Bullet #24** **

****Master Hand admits the doors can be picked.** **

 

*****Ding Dong Ding Dong*** **

****“Yeah, I’m bored… Everyone head to the red door in the first floor of the school area. It’s time for the first class trial.”** **

 

So that’s what’s behind that door… It’s not like I have a choice to go or not.

 

* * *

 

I arrived at the door and went in. I saw all my classmates in front of an elevator door.

“Link, you took too long.” groaned Pikachu.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll find the killer.” said Samus.

“Isn’t it-a obvious who the-a killer is? It has to-a be-a Zelda!”

“M-mario, it’s still to-a early to judge…”

“Jeeze, Link. You’re late.” Master Hand whined through the intercom. “Anyway, you should all enter the elevator to head to the trial site.”

“There’s a trial site? Befitting for a killer princess.” sneered Donkey Kong.

“I-I didn’t kill Yoshi.” Zelda trembled.

I couldn’t stand the atmosphere so I went directly into the elevator. I felt my heartbeat getting faster as I trembled in fear of what was about to follow. The rest followed me and soon we were all in the elevator. Soon the elevator started going down, the ride was shaky and the metallic sound made by the elevator made it even more stressful.

When I got out I saw seats placed in the form of a circle. The blue walls of the room were covered in red curtains and the floor was checkered. Master Hand and his Monokuma plushy appeared and he told us to go to our designated seats.

Right across me stood a picture frame with Yoshi’s face crossed out. Right behind, Master Hand floated and put his Monokuma plushy on top of a golden throne.

He began laughing and everyone started feeling nervous. The atmosphere got uncomfortable as we all looked at each other with suspicion and then it started.

A courtroom of life and death… Solving the puzzle meant lives and death. Not solving it meant life and deaths. Either way someone would die… and someone would live… at the end of this class trial of life… and death…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope the next chapter comes out faster. I also added a Monokuma plushy for the lolz.
> 
> Surnames:  
> Link Farore  
> Zelda Hyrule  
> Bayonetta Umbra  
> Ryu Takashi  
> Mario Martinetti  
> Luigi Martinetti  
> Ness Eagleland  
> Yoshi Hino  
> Kirby Sakurai  
> Pikachu Taijiri  
> Jigglypuff Sugimori


	5. Chapter 1 - Lives Smashed - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and the others must figure out who murdered killer. Will they solve the mystery or will they all face punishment?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trial is here!  
> I'm not quite sure about this chapter, it's really dialog heavy. If anyone has any advice on how to make the trials better, you can leave them in the comments.

I quickly reviewed my truth bullets before Master Hand announced the start of the trial. The hand grabbed his Monokuma plushy and it started to speak with an annoying voice.

 

“Let’s start with an explanation of the class trial. During the trial you will present arguments for who the killer is, and vote for ‘whodunnit’. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished and you will continue living your normal life here. But if you pick wrong, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be allowed to graduate.” the stuffed animal explained.

“Anyway, don’t bother asking if the killer is really among you. Because they totally are!” the hand shouted.

“Before we start… What’s with the crossed out picture?” asked Ryu.

“We can’t have Yoshi missing out on the trial. Now he can see from wherever he is, if his killer is caught or not.”

“I don’t know whether that’s nice or completely twisted.” grunted Samus.

“That’s cruel, Sammy. I recommend you guys start by reviewing the case. Go on, start debating!”

 

So it starts, huh? I must find Yoshi’s killer… I need to solve this puzzle, I can’t let my sadness take over me… Everyone’s life is one the line, I need to make sure we get out of this alive.

 

“All right, so the victim was Yoshi…” Pikachu started.

“No shit, Sherlock.” grunted Ryu .

“He was killed around 1 am.” muttered Ness.

“In a very brutal manner.” Bayonetta added.

“Inside Link’s room!” Fox yelled.

 

__That can’t be it… If I remember correctly…_ _

 

“No, that’s wrong! In the Master File it only says that Yoshi was found in my room but not that he was killed in it.”

“I guess you’re right. But if he wasn’t killed in your room… Where was he killed?”

“In his own room. I investigated it with Link.” Cloud answered.

“So if he was killed in his own room… How did he die?” Zelda asked.

“There was a knife on Link’s bed.” Jigglypuff pointed out.

“But how did he use it to kill Yoshi?” Kirby wondered, “The Master File says he died because of a blunt object.”

“Link… Did you see anything in Yoshi’s room?” the other puffball asked.

 

__Let me think… Nothing that could kill him in the bathroom… Nothing on the floor… Wait… The first thing I saw!_ _

 

“Actually I did. I saw a lamp with faint blood stains.”

“Does that even-a matter. We all-a know Zelda-a did it.” smirked Mario.

“M-mario…” Luigi stuttered.

“But what if the killer is framing her. If we stop right now… We could all die. I say it’s too early to call the votes.” Samus explained.

 

__That’s right, as long as we haven’t proven anything… We can’t be sure who killed Yoshi._ _

 

“Why would the killer put Yoshi in Link’s room?” Captain Falcon asked.

“Not sure… But shouldn’t we focus on the knife. It was used to cut Yoshi’s shell.” Bayonetta remarked.

“Where did the killer get it?”

“From the kitchen, there was a missing knife.” I replied.

“So who took it?”

“I bet it was Zelda!” Fox shouted.

“No, Kirby can prove it.” I rebutted.

“Zelda never came in. But someone else did.” Kirby revealed.

“Huh? Someone else came in?”

“I-it was Yoshi.”

“He’s not lying.” Ryu responded calmly. “I was with Kirby when we saw Yoshi came in.”

“Why would he take the knife?”

“For self defense. I can’t see any other reason.”

 

__Something tells me that’s not the reason…_ _

 

“In Yoshi’s room I found this paper. It says ‘ ** **Meet me in my room at 1 am - Yoshi’.**** I think… I think he might have tried to…”

“That’s impossible! Yoshi didn’t want anyone to die.” Ness screamed.

 

__I don’t want to believe it either but… There’s no other way that makes sense…_ _

 

“So Yoshi tried luring someone into his room to kill them but he ended up getting killed.” Bayonetta reflected.

“It’ll take some time to know who he tried to kill. How about we try and figure out more about the knife?” Jigglypuff suggested.

“We’re only going to waste time…”

“Sorry…”

“Was there anything of interest in Yoshi’s room?”

“The toilet bowl was full of blood... The mirror was broken. And the bed looked as though it had never been used before.” Cloud explained.

“Link, do you remember the box with bed sheets?” Zelda asked me.

“Yeah, it was opened and the bed sheets where all messy.”

“Maybe the killer took bed sheets from there to cover up the evidence…”

“But if they did, where are the bed sheets now?” Donkey Kong inquired.

“In Link’s room?”

“In the trash?”

“Maybe the killer destroyed them?” suggested Ness.

“They hid them!”

“Wait! I think Ness might be right. Ryu, do you remember the state the stove was in?” I yelled.

“Uh, yeah. It was dirty. It seemed to be covered in ashes and blood.”

“Do you think it’s possible the killer destroyed the sheets with the fire from the stove?” Kirby asked.

“Yeah… But that wasn’t the only weird thing in the kitchen. The sink was also dirty. I think the killer tried to get rid of the evidence by throwing the ashes into the sink.”

“I did some investigating of my own.” Zelda added, “Some ashes didn’t go down the drain. It was really obvious. I think the killer made a mistake.”

“He must have used water. The killer probably wasn’t smart enough to know that using water to drain ashes doesn’t work well.” Fox theorized.

“But if the killer destroyed the evidence at night where did they get the water?” Cloud asked.

“Maybe they woke up early to go to the kitchen?”

“I-a doubt they would-a have had time.” Mario argued, “I was with-a Luigi in the cafeteria before-a 7 am. The killer wouldn’t have-a been able to-a go unnoticed.”

“So with out a doubt the-a destroying happened at-a night.” Luigi carried on.

“That’s impossible. There wasn’t any water for them to use.” commented Donkey Kong.

“No, that’s wrong. The fridge has lots of water bottles. One of them was empty. I think the killer used that.” I recalled.

“Now that we know about that. I suggest we go back to Yoshi’ room.” Jigglypuff demanded.

“If I remember correctly the carpet had a trail of blood leading to the bathroom. There was a message carved out on the shower glass. It reads-”

“Fuck Link.” Cloud said bluntly.

“So Link is the killer?” asked Captain Falcon.

“No! It wasn’t me. The killer must have written that.”

“The message was really sloppy. It makes more sense that Yoshi would have written it. But the some letters didn’t look like they belonged there.”

“If he was on his dying breath, Yoshi couldn’t have been able to write well.”

 

__Damn it… I can’t rebut this. Maybe if I try and change the subject._ _

 

“Well there’s no way to be sure… We should focus on…”

 

__What other evidence was there? I know!_ _

 

“The broken mirror. I found a shard of it in front of Yoshi’s room.”

“I think I know what the killer could have used it for.” Zelda announced. “Yoshi ended up in my room this morning. Maybe the killer used the shard to see if anyone was in the hallway. Yoshi’s room was close to Link’s. So when they saw me go out, they used the mirror to make sure no one came.”

“That’s amazing!” Pikachu said sarcastically, “Except, how would they have gotten it your room?”

“He picked the lock. Master Hand told me it was possible to pick them. Right, Master Hand?” I said.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

“But what did they use?” Pikachu asked.

“The common household items are bobby pins, wires and paper clips.” the princess listed off.

“They are __that__  common!?”

“But there aren’t any of those in any rooms.” Fox stated.

 

__If I remember correctly…_ _

 

“No, you’re wrong. When I was investigating the storage room with Zelda, we noticed a packet of paper clips missing.”

“He’s right. And I never gave anyone my keys.”

“So we know how the killer got in but… Why did they take a shower?”

“That’s true! The shower was wet in Link’s room.”

“They must have been really dirty after all they did.”

“But what if, the killer took it there to avoid suspicion. It would make Zelda more suspicious.” Samus said.

“Talking about Zelda’s room got me thinking. Why did the killer cut off Yoshi’s shell?”

“Maybe they wanted us to think he died because of that?”

“Actually, I think the killer made it so that we’d assume he was killed there. They probably never expected us to go into Yoshi’s room.”

“No, that can’t be it. Why would the killer bother destroying the evidence in Yoshi’s room?” I said.

“Guys, I think we should go back to the shower message.” Kirby suggested.

“Master Hand, can you show us a picture of the message?” Jigglypuff asked.

“Fine, here you go.” After saying that, a screen appeared and displayed the message.

“That’s -a weird. The-a ‘uck’ part seems to-a be written on top of-a something.” Luigi pointed out.

 

__Luigi is right. I never took a close look at the writing. Cloud must have misread it. But if there’s something underneath the writing, it’s definitely a name and… There’s only one that can fit… Only one name is short enough to fit in that small amount of space._ _

 

“It says Fox.” I blurted out.

“No way.” Pikachu said.

“Fox? What that’s not possible.” Donkey Kong said.

“He’s right this is nonsense. How could it have been me? The culprit, he must have framed me!”

“So how do you explain coming into the cafeteria all wet?” I said.

“I took a shower in my room!”

“If you did, you would have used a hair drier and a towel to dry yourself.”

“I was in a rush!”

“What-a rush?”

“I was hungry?”

“Or maybe you didn’t know where Link kept the hair drier and towels!”

“I think we should review this case. Link, if you would do us the honor.”

 

“Last night, Yoshi invited the culprit to his room. At 1 am, the culprit arrived but was attacked by Yoshi. The culprit surprised grabbed the lamp and hit Yoshi on the head. They then took Yoshi into the bathroom. Thinking Yoshi was unconscious, they went to get the bed sheets to clean up but then thought about the opportunity they had to kill Yoshi. While Yoshi was in the bathroom, he used the knife to carve out a dying message, the culprits name. The culprit noticed him and then proceeded to kill him. The culprit then decided to mess up the message and changed it to ‘Fuck Link’. Afterwards, they used the bed sheets and the toilet bowl water to clean the lamp. They then headed to the cafeteria to destroy the evidence using the stove. Afterwards, they threw the ashes down the drain and used a water bottle to make it easier, unaware that it would cause some ashes to stick. On their way back, they noticed that Zelda and I had switched rooms and decided that it would be easy to frame one of us. They went to the storage room, got some clean sheets and a packet of paper clips and went back to Yoshi’s room. They made the bed and broke the mirror to get a shard of glass. The culprit waited for everyone to go out of their rooms and using the mirror made sure no one was coming. They then picked my lock and put Yoshi on the bed. To make it looks as though it was the crime scene they cut off Yoshi’s shell and covered the bed with blood. They then took a quick shower and got dressed. Afterwards, they made their way to cafeteria as though nothing had happened and said they were wet because they had taken a shower.”

 

I paused for a moment before catching my breath.

 

“Isn’t that right, Fox McCloud!”

 

If I could have seen Fox’s skin, I think it would have turned pale. He started shaking and the others stared at him in disbelief.

 

“I can’t believe he did that to poor Yoshi.” Ness cried.

“Do you have any objections to this?” Ryu demanded.

“Of course I do! This is all bullshit. It’s an ass pull coming out of nowhere!”

“So what defenses do you have?” I asked.

“Your stupidity! Your stupid conclusions! This whole class is stupid!”

“If you weren’t the killer, how do you explain the writing on the shower?”

“Like hell, I know. The killer framed me! You’re all being stupid!”

“Don’t you have any actual proof?”

“Proof? Who cares about proof? Your stupidity is my proof!”

“How is that proof?”

“The killer. He made sure you all reached this stupid conclusion! That guy, he planned it all!”

“How do you know the killer is a guy?”

“...”

“So you’re the killer. I didn’t see you like that kind of guy.” said Samus.

“How disappointing.” Kirby added.

 

“Seems you’ve reached your conclusion. Get ready to vote.”

 

* * *

 

I reluctantly pulled my lever and hoped for the best…

 

“Congratulations. You guys are right! Fox did indeed kill Yoshi-boy!”

 

I stayed silent while others argued and cried. I couldn’t rap my head around this. Why would Yoshi want to kill Fox? Is it because of what I told him… That he’s saved people… I don’t know what to think. In a way, Fox actions saved us… I still can’t believe Yoshi tried to kill him, he was such a nice guy. Now that I think about it, I promised to not kill but… He never promised he wouldn’t kill. What was going on with him? I wish I could ask him but… He’s dead.

 

“You must all be despairing that Yoshi-boy, the nice guy, had the guts to kill. How I love the looks on your faces. I am going to make you despair even more. Fox McCloud, it’s punishment time!”

“W-what! No! That can’t be possible! I don’t wanna die! Please! Don’t kill me!” the fox screamed in agony. “It was self defense!”

“So why did you kill him instead of telling everyone what happened?” Bayonetta taunted.

“Guys… Please stop this. It’s over.” I pleaded.

“Yoshi was your friend. Don’t you blame Fox?”

“Uh… I guess. But, this is Master Hand’s fault. If he never put us in this situation, we’d all still be alive.”

“Don’t blame me. I’m only doing my job. Enough chitchat anyways. Let’s get on to the Ultimate Captain’s execution!”

“NOOOOO!!!!!!” Fox screamed as a rope came out of nowhere and pulled him out of the court room.

 

* * *

 

Fox gets thrown into an empty room with only a pair of metallic boots. Suddenly an arwing appears and shot his legs. Two monokumas appear, put the metallic boots on Fox and attach strings on them. Master Hand starts to control Fox’s movement as if he were a puppeteer.

 

****Attack of the shooters** **

****

The arwing starts shooting again and Master Hand makes Fox run. The arwing keeps shooting and misses Fox every time. Fox manages to outrun the arwing but his new legs start heating up an melting. The background changes to Corneria and loads of mini arwings appear and start shooting. A huge ship then arrives shooting a huge laser beam destroying Fox’s body and leaving only the skeleton.

 

* * *

 

What just happened… Was true despair. The look on Fox’s face as he was being shot… Only his skeleton is left… How can anyone be this cruel? I could hear others crying. Master Hand was laughing…

 “You guys can’t handle this at all. This happened because you all wanted to get out. If you live here for the rest of your lives, no one else will have to die.”

 And then, he just disappeared leaving all of us in silence. I think everyone was scared… None of us had ever been in this kind of situation. The trial was finally over and it was overwhelming.

 

“Link, I think that in the end… Yoshi thought about all of us. He wrote the message because… He trusted you to solve this puzzle.” Zelda said trying to cheer me up.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I trust you. I think you’ll be able to get us all out of here. You’ll be able to get over Yoshi and Fox’s deaths. I think that’s what they want us all to do.”

“No… I’ll always keep them with me. Everyone, I wont let their memories fade.”

“I guess we all have our different ways to handle deaths.” she smiled.

I smiled back thinking that I’d definitely get everyone out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed.  
> And thus Chapter 1 ends.  
> You can decide who Link gets to hang out with. Next chapter there will be four FTEs.


	6. Chapter 2 - Pool of Despair - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the shocking result of the trial, Link and the other students must continue their lives. With a new floor opened and a party planned, just what will happen? Will they finally find a way out or will someone else die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! Blame Fire Emblem Echoes and Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls for the delays :3

...

...

...

There's nothing on my bed, no trace of blood. It's like nothing ever happened.

Master Hand sent us back to our rooms after the trial. Not letting us mourn our losses. This feels like a horrible nightmare...

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

At least this horrible day was coming to an end. But this was just the beginning. The beginning of our despair.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong** *

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day.** "

Master Hand called us all to the gym. He turned on a radio which played instructions for some stretching exercises. The more athletic of us followed the instructions and the rest just stared at Master Hand.

"Hey! Didn't you learn that staring is rude? I'm doing this for your own good. Can't let you get out of shape."

"Master Hand, did you really call us here for this?" Ryu asked.

"You truly are stupid, Ryu-boy. I have a huge announcement to make. I'm letting you all go."

"Really?" I blurted out.

"Nah, that would be boring. Every time you guys clear a trial, a new floor will be accessible. You can all go exploring if you want."

And with that he left. We decided to all split up into groups to explore the new floor. I was with Kirby and Ryu. We headed to the second floor and we were greeted by a long blue corridor. Kirby took out his e-handbook and suggested that we go visit a classroom.

We turned to the right and entered a classroom. It had weird walls and bad drawings on the black board. Afterwards, we walked to the end of the corridor to see the other classroom. Kirby was disappointed by the lack of discovery.

We decided to head to the pool which was located next to the staircase. Jigglypuff, Pikachu and Samus were standing in front of the entrance. Pikachu seemed really excited and Jigglypuff was jumping all over the place.

"There is actual training equipment in here. Maybe we could throw a pool-training party." Samus told Pikachu.

"That sounds like so much fun!"

They continued chatting and I looked around the entrance. Huh? Why are there machine guns?

"Too make sure you don't go into the wrong changing room! I can't have you guys looking at the girls." Master Hand explained. Wait? How did he know what I was thinking?

"But what if someone's gay?"

"..." Master Hand just floated not saying anything. "Fuck you, Link. Fuck you. Anyways, you can't enter without your e-handbook."

"But what if someone uses another person's e-handbook?"

"I'll add a new rule! No using other people's e-handbook! I have to go add that to the rules. See ya."

I sighed and headed into the boys changing room. There wasn't anything special. Kirby was trying to lift some of the equipment but he was too small. Ryu was staring at the wall. Curious, I decided to check it out. It's a poster... Wait, why does the school have this kind of thing? I quickly ran out of the changing room and headed towards the pool. It was really big. We can definitely have a pool party here.

The last room left to check out was the library. Many other groups were checking it out. It was really dusty and lighting was pretty bad. How is anyone supposed to read in here?

The library was full of books. But they seemed untouched. This was pretty confusing. There was a door to a storage room in the library. I entered it but it was so dark I couldn't see a thing.

I continued to look around and found an envelope on a table. I called Ryu and Kirby over and opened it. I pulled out a letter and started reading it out loud.

" **This is an announcement by Hope Peak's head office.**

**For many years we've provided the country with the most brilliant students and have lead them to a successful life. Due to some problems, we have a difficult decision to make, we must shut down the school. This isn't the end of Hope's Peak and we will return in the future. Once the situation is better, we will reopen the school. We will abolish the school after the government approves of this."**

"What does this mean?" Ryu whispered.

"I think at a certain point, Hope's Peak had to shut down."

"The letter and envelope aren't that dirty. This could have been a year ago." Kirby said.

"But wouldn't we have heard about it?"

"Maybe the problem was resolved faster than expected and Hope's Peak didn't have to shut down."

"If it did maybe the mastermind behind all of this, took advantage of the empty building to trap us."

After some more investigating, we all headed back to the cafeteria and reported our findings. Sadly, we weren't any closer to finding a way out.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

Guess, there's nothing to do but go to bed...

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong** *

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day. I have updated your e-handbooks. Have a nice day.** "

Everyone was here besides Ness and Luigi. We decided to start eating breakfast and Luigi came running in.

"Guys, I can't-a find-a Ness. He's not in his-a room."

I kinda have an idea where he might be...

I headed up to the second floor and made my way to the library. There I found Ness and... Floating books? He really is psychic.

"Ness, what are you doing?"

"I'm reading. I'm looking for information about the school."

"You kinda scared everyone, you know?"

"I did! I'm so sorry. I really wanted to be of use to everyone."

"It's okay. You should come back for breakfast."

"It's already morning? I didn't notice the time flying so quickly. I'll head to cafeteria immediately."

* * *

We went back and everyone seemed glad that Ness was okay. Since there wasn't anything to do, I decided to hang out with Pikachu.

"So, Pikachu, how did you become the Ultimate Mascot?"

"By being adorable! Who doesn't like cute stuff?"

Many people... Many...

"How about we play tag?" Pikachu grinned.

"Tag? There's nothing else to do. So, sure. Why not?"

We ended up playing tag for about thirty minutes. Where does Pikachu get all that stamina, he's so small but he doesn't seem tired.

"How come you're not tired?"

"I'm used to having to do lots of stuff. So I always need energy. I need to look cute all the time."

"It must be hard to live like that."

"Nah, I'm used to it. All though, I do wish I had some more privacy sometimes. I can't do anything bad otherwise it will be a huge scandal."

"That must be hard on you and your family."

"Yeah, especially my little brother... He's also in Hope's Peak. He got in a year ago."

Huh? A year ago? But that can't be possible...

"He's a great electrician. His class was pretty funny and weird according to him. I've never met any of his classmates though. Well... Thanks for hanging out, it was fun. See ya!"

That was weird... The letter... Everything is getting even more confusing. I should try and forget about this for a while. Maybe I could hang out with Zelda.

* * *

I went to the library and found the princess reading. She smiled at me and invited me to sit down and read with her.

"What kind of books do you like, Link?"

"I don't actually like reading that much. I always fall asleep while reading…"

"I suppose you're not a big movie fan either?"

"No… I prefer video games since I actually have to do something but nothing beats going outside and doing things."

"I see. I wish I could have gone out more during my childhood. Books and magic were my only source of entertainment at home. I did get to go horse riding a few times though. It was pretty fun." the princess smiled.

"I loved horse riding when I went to visit my cousin. He had a horse named Epona." I recalled.

"You must have had so much fun with your family. I'm not too close with my cousins. I only see them on special occasions and dinners. It's pretty funny since every girl is also called Zelda. It's tradition."

"That's funny. My family also has a similar tradition. All the boys are called Link. Apparently it's something to do with our genes which makes boys more common than girls. The only girl in my family is my cousin Linkle."

"I wonder how our families are doing… I hope they're okay."

"Yeah, me too. Hopefully nothing bad has happened to them."

I spent the rest of the day speaking with Zelda about random topics. It was pretty fun, I learned a bit about her. Turns out she's pretty good at playing the ocarina. She told me that if she found one she'd teach me how to play it.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

Well, guess it's time to sleep.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong** *

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day. Have a nice day.** "

I went to the cafeteria and saw Zelda with Pikachu. They were talking about throwing a pool party. That sounded pretty fun. I quickly made a sandwich and went to join them.

"I think we should throw the party tomorrow." said Zelda.

"That sounds good. You'll have lots of time to prepare."

"I think we should get Mario and Luigi to cook something!" Pikachu squeaked.

We talked together for a while and they decided to prepare the pool for tomorrow's party.

* * *

I was bored so I met up with Samus to play some games she had found.

"It really sucks in here. There's nothing to do. I'm bored." the blonde girl sighed.

"There's gotta be something you want to do."

"Want to have a fight? Not a fight to the death, just a friendly match."

"Uh… Okay?"

"Great! Let's go to the gym."

I fought with the bounty hunter for a while and lost. She's way stronger than she looks. Maybe that's what Captain Falcon likes about her…

"This was fun! Haven't had a good fight in a long while." the blonde smiled.

"S-same here…"

"I wonder what a fight with Master Hand would be like."

"It would result in you getting stabbed by spears or committing suicide because I'm just too strong." Master Hand said appearing out of nowhere.

"No one asked you." Samus snapped.

"Calm your tits, Sammy. Here you can have a Monokuma plushy." the hand offered. "Wait, you know what. I'm giving Monokuma plushies to everyone!"

"Let's go, Link."

It was probably around midday since I was getting. Samus told me she was going to find her plushy and paint it in weird colors using sauces. I wished her good luck and went to have lunch.

* * *

Kirby was making lunch today and he called me to help him. After eating, he told me he had found something cool. He took me to the computer room and switched one of the computers on.

"The computers work and they have games installed!" the puff grinned.

"Really? That's so cool."

"I know! I also found a box of DVDs." Kirby said as he took out a box.

"I always fall asleep when I watch movies. I think I'll stick with games but I wouldn't mind watching one."

"Let's see what there is. Ooh! They have a movie about kirbies. There's also one about the history of Hyrule. Have no idea what that is. There's one called _Waifu Wars_ , seems lame. Two girls one-"

"I heard that movie is crap. Literally."

"If you say so. _Distrust_. What's with the weird man on the cover? _Bullet Refute_ … Is that Monokuma?"

"There's a movie about Monokuma?"

"Yeah. Did you get a Monokuma plushy?"

"Yes. Everyone did."

"You know what. Let's just marathon season 19 of _North Park_. I heard it's the among the best ones."

We ended up watching the whole season in one sitting. It was really funny. I felt out of breath at the end. I think the only reason I didn't fall asleep was because I was laughing too much. My side were really hurting. Do Kirbies sides also hurt? Wait, does he even have sides? What the heck is a kirby?

I asked Kirby and we watched the movie about kirbies. Honestly, I think I'm even more confused. The puff decided to keep the movie and told me he was going.

It was getting late so I went to eat dinner. When I walked out of the cafeteria, I noticed that the baths were open. I took a peak and noticed it was really steamy and hot. Who takes baths in such hot water?

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

Huh? The announcement… Wait, if I stay here any longer I'll be locked in. I rushed out and ran towards my room. I jumped on my bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong** *

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day. Have a nice day.** "

No… I want to sleep some more…

"Hey, Link listen!" I heard an annoying voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Master Hand with Monokuma. "Stop being a lazy teenager and wake up!"

I got up and made my way to the cafeteria for breakfast. Pikachu and Zelda were telling everyone about the party. Nobody seemed to object which made the two very happy. But Master Hand had to ruin everything.

" **I have an important announcement to make! Everybody must head to the gym."**

The hand was waiting for us. Next to him was a box.

"You guys are all here! I'm here to give you your motives." he yelled as he threw the box in the air letting envelopes fall out. They all had our names written on it. We all picked up our envelope and Master Hand told us to open them.

I could feel my face losing all color when I read the note inside. How did Master Hand get this information?

"Despairing yet? I've also left a box with accessories to help you in the killing. Oh! And I've left swimsuits for all of you. You can have your party before killing someone. I also forgot to mention that in twenty-four hours I'll reveal everyone's secret. Cheerio!"

The hand vanished and left all of us confused.

"I think we should all reveal our secrets and leave the accessories in the gym." I suggested nervously.

"I agree. That way no one will have to die." Ryu agreed.

"We'd probably end up figuring our secrets sooner or later, so why not?" Kirby smiled.

"I don't really want to reveal my secret…" Zelda muttered.

"Same here. But if I must…" whispered Donkey Kong.

"Those who don't want to tell could just not tell. I say those who want to should but the ones who don't shouldn't have to listen to our secrets." Jigglypuff grinned.

* * *

A few minutes later, those who wanted to tell their secrets returned with their boxes.

"Since I suggested this… I think I should start. My box has a blue sword and a big shield."

"And your secret?" Jigglypuff giggled.

"Eh… I once went to a yard sale with my cousin were we bought a huge box of video games. They were all… Porn games and we played them in front of our parents."

"Wow, that's kinda messed up. How old were you at the time?" Ryu laughed.

"Five"

"My turn!" the pink puff yelled while she jumped excitedly. "I got a microphone and speaker. And… All my songs are auto-tuned and I don't even write them."

"That's not something you should be happy about." said Kirby angrily.

"I'm not happy about it but it feels good to tell others my biggest secret."

"She's right. It's kind of a pain to just keep secrets all to ourselves." Donkey Kong agreed. "I got a banana."

"What are you supposed to do with it? Force someone to eat it? Let me guess… It's either poisoned or one of us is allergic to bananas." Cloud smirked.

"It is poisoned. See the markings. I can't believe Master Hand wasted a precious banana! Maybe he wasted all of them!" the gorilla cried.

"Remind me to never eat anything banana related again." Cloud told me.

"Maybe we should tell Mario and Luigi to not use bananas to stay on the safe side." I suggested.

"My secret is that I once let my family's secret banana hoard get stolen. My grandpa was so disappointed in me." the ape continued to cry.

"Okay. Moving on. I got a dress." Cloud blushed.

"That's a pretty nice one. Can you wear it? I'd love to see you in it." requested Bayonetta with an evil grin.

"No. My secret is that I once had to cross-dress to save one of my friends."

"That's not too bad." Ryu sighed.

"That part isn't but getting all the clothes and make up was horrible. I ended up in a tub full of old gay men… It was really disturbing… Then I had to go with this old guy who had my friend and he tried to hit on me thinking that I was a girl."

"I take everything I said back. I guess I should go next. I got some gloves and bandages." Ryu smiled nervously. "I'm afraid of spiders. I once woke up with one in my mouth."

"Boring. I'll go next. I got some guns. Also, my real name is Cereza not Bayonetta."

"That's even more boring than Ryu's. I got a pink ball. My secret is that I have amnesia. I don't even remember ever being scouted to Hope's Peak." Kirby revealed.

That was weird. Would that even be considered a secret? But why would he go to Hope's Peak if he doesn't recall being scouted. This is confusing…

We left our boxes in the gym and headed back to our rooms to get ready for the party. I took my swimsuit and walked to the changing rooms. The boys changing room was empty so I assumed I was either late or early.

* * *

Once changed, I went to the pool hall and saw some of the students in the pool. I joined them and we played some games while waiting for everyone to arrive.

After about thirty minutes everyone had arrived. Mario and Luigi brought some snacks with them and set them on the table. We all sat around and started eating and chatting.

Donkey Kong was going on and on about bananas and only Kirby and Luigi seemed genuinely interested. Jigglypuff, who was bored, decided to start playing some music to lighten up the mood. She told me the music was from an album called 'Reach for the Stars'.

We spent the rest of the party playing silly games and dancing. I'm pretty sure we all forgot about the killing game going on. It was as though we were just normal students having a normal party.

I was hanging out with Ryu when the pink pokémon ran towards the girl's changing room.

"I'm sorry guys! I just really need to sing!"

"Must be tough being unable to sing in front of others…" I sighed.

"Yeah. Well, I need to use the toilet. I've eaten too much." Ryu laughed while walking away.

"Pfft… As if! He barely ate anything!" Kirby blurted out once Ryu was gone.

"I'm sure we all have different standards compared to you."

"Whatever. Want to join Mario, Cloud and I in a water gun fight?"

"The school has water guns?"

"Yep! It's pretty cool. Don't tell anyone but I filled mine up with coke." the pink puff whispered.

"Why?"

"I'm planning something awesome. You'll see."

Whatever Kirby's planning I hope it's funny.

Kirby gave me and empty water gun and I filled it up with water. Mario then announced the start of the fight and I tried hitting Kirby with the water but the puff ball was having none of it. He was really hard to hit but he couldn't find a moment to shoot back. I wonder if it's part of his plan?

Mario was shooting at everything and anything without missing while Cloud kept missing his targets. I tried to shoot at Ness but he made some irresistible puppy eyes…

Kirby was walking up to Samus but Pikachu ended up getting in the way. The pink puff seemed pretty annoyed. He was probably planning to make Samus' hair wet or something like that.

"Okay, it's break time. We each get to fill up our guns." Mario announced.

"About time." Cloud groaned.

"I haven't even used my gun!" Kirby whined.

"Mine still has some water in it." I said. "Kirby and I can wait for you two to fill up your guns."

Mario and Cloud nodded and went to fill up their guns while Kirby and I waited. The puff whispered to me about his new plan to mess up Cloud's hair. He thought it would be even funnier than his old plan…

Once Mario and Cloud were back, the plumber announced the start of the next round. Kirby shot Cloud who ended up covered in coke and very unhappy along with everyone around him. The blond started ranting about his hair and left to go wash it. Donkey Kong followed soon after saying that he didn't want his fur to be all sticky. Jigglypuff who had just come back slipped on the puddle of coke and had to leave again.

Ryu returned and asked me if I wanted to try some of the spicy food Luigi had made. Since it was Luigi, I didn't expect anything that spicy but boy was I wrong. I ran towards the changing room when I suddenly heard someone singing. It's making me kinda sleepy…

* * *

"Guys! Guys! Wake up!"

What? I was asleep? Who's yelling?

"Link! Can you hear me? We need to save the others!"

"J-jigglypuff?"

"Quick! You need to help me save the others or they'll drown."

"What!?" I yelled turning around seeing everyone asleep. Wait… Is that blood in the pool? There are people in the pool.

"Hurry! We can't let them die." the puff shouted.

We ran towards the pool and lifted the others out of the pool.

"What a nice nap!" Pikachu grinned but his smile was short lived when he saw the pool.

" **A body has been discovered! A body has been discovered! The trial will commence soon."**

"S-someone d-died?" Pikachu asked.

"It seems to be the case but how do we know who died?" Jigglypuff responded.

"The announcement played when Pikachu looked at the pool." I said.

"W-we should help the others that are still in the pool."

"Hey, I noticed something." the yellow pokémon remarked. "Donkey Kong is the only one who doesn't have… his head above the water."

"We should help the others then! What if they somehow turn around and drown, no one's dying anymore!"

So after getting everyone who was still alive to wake up, Pikachu broke the news to everyone. Donkey Kong was dead. His fur tainted red with blood, his neck was wrapped in some purple fabric and his hands were tied…

"Guess you guys revealed secrets for nothing! Since someone died, I will keep your secrets. For now." Master Hand laughed appearing out of thin air.

His laugh completely changed the room's atmosphere. Sadness and fear turned into anger and despair. But that didn't stop us. Once he left, the investigation started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)  
> I wanted to try deviating a bit from the game's plot to make the story more different and to avoid spoiling Danganronpa for those who haven't played or seen it.  
> See you guys next chapter


	7. Chapter 2 - Pool of Despair - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donkey Kong is dead and the students must investigate. But will the new discoveries make the case easier to solve or even more complicated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was really fast compared to my usual speed.

I turned on my e-Handbook to read the Master File.

**The victim was Donkey Kong. There are lots of cuts on his body but no other injuries. He died ten minutes ago in the boy's changing room.**

This probably rules out all the girls as suspects, I don't think there's anyway one could have entered the boy's changing room. But why wasn't the cause of death mentioned? Could it be the key to solving the murder? I should take a look at the pool. It's full of red fluids. Probably blood.

**Truth Bullet #2**

**The pool is tainted red. If it's blood there's too much of it for just one person.**

Maybe the killer hurt some of the others…

"Hey, Link. How do you think DK died?" Ryu asked.

"Hm… Not sure. I should check his body to get some clues."

I looked at the body and saw were the cuts where.

"These cuts aren't very deep. This couldn't have killed him. None of his vital organs or arteries seem to have been pierced." Samus said while looking at the body.

**Truth Bullet #3**

**Donkey Kong has cuts on his arm, legs and chest. They don't appear to be very deep.**

So he had to have died in another way. Maybe he was strangled with the purple fabric. It seems to have been ripped from a bigger fabric.

**Truth Bullet #4**

**There's a purple fabric around Donkey Kong's neck. It was ripped from a bigger fabric.**

But why would the killer leave it there… Wouldn't it make anyone with something purple suspicious.

"This is-a weird. Very-a weird…" Mario sighed.

"What's wrong Mario?"

"Why was-a everyone in-a the pool? Before I-a fell asleep, I-a remember there-a being only a-Ness, a-Pikachu, a-Bayonetta, a-Samus and-a Zelda in the pool. Everyone one-a else was outside of the pool. But-a Cloud, a-Donkey Kong and-a Jigglypuff weren't even in the pool hall."

"That's a good question. I'm sure this will be important for the trial."

**Truth Bullet #5**

**The people in the pool before the incident were Ness, Pikachu, Bayonetta, Samus and Zelda. Cloud, Donkey Kong and Jigglypuff weren't in the pool hall.**

I'm sure this will be important… What's Jigglypuff looking at?

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"These speakers. They're mine but I left them in the box. Someone must have taken them. If it's off any use, they're wireless speakers. They work with wifi and bluetooth. Huh? They're on. I think they're connected to something."

**Truth Bullet #6**

**Jigglypuff's speakers were found in the pool hall. They're wireless and are currently connected to some device.**

I think this is everything in the pool hall for now.

* * *

I went into the boy's changing room and looked for more clues. I noticed that the floor was wet and covered in coke.

**Truth Bullet #7**

**The floor is wet and covered in coke.**

Anyone who walked on this floor must have sticky feet…

I looked around and noticed the sword and shield from my box were laying on the ground. Wait, is that blood?

**Truth Bullet #8**

**The sword and shield are on the floor with some blood on them.**

The killer probably used the sword to cut DK but why does the shield have blood? Did the killer spill some on it? Maybe they tried to kill someone else and failed…

There's also more of that purple fabric…

**Truth Bullet #9**

**There are pieces of purple fabric on the floor.**

"Link, look. It's Kirby's ball." Ryu pointed out. I looked at the ball and it looked kind of squished.

**Truth Bullet #10**

**Kirby's ball appears to be squished. Someone must have stepped on it.**

"I think the killer made a trap… Maybe they wanted someone to fall thanks to that ball." I theorized.

"Maybe they used the shield so that the person who fell hurt their head or something. The impact of the fall could knock someone out. But DK is kinda big…" the martial artist speculated.

"You must know a thing or two about knock outs. Who would be knocked out if they hurt their head with the shield?"

"Depends on the strength of the blow. But I guess someone small like Pikachu would easily be knocked out. But I'm not sure about Kirby… What is he?"

"It's kinda complicated. So… Who else?"

"With one fall, I guess anyone who's small, weak or skinny is more likely to be knocked out than someone who's big and strong."

"Thanks."

* * *

I went out of the boy's changing room and Zelda ran up to me.

"Link! I've found some pretty interesting clues." she informed me. "Master Hand! Can you make the changing rooms accessible to everyone?"

"Yeah, sure." the hand said appearing out of nowhere. "Monkuma, go and open the door"

The plushy-robot-whatever-kuma obeyed his orders and unlocked the changing room doors and in a flash it, along with Master Hand, disappeared. I followed Zelda into the girl's changing room and she showed me a microphone laying on the floor. It was Jigglypuff's.

**Truth Bullet #11**

**Jigglypuff's microphone was found in the girl's changing room.**

The princess then pointed out a device. It was some weird device with a screen. I looked through it and found out that it was connected to the microphone and speakers. It was also set on something called 'delay'. It apparently causes a delay of 15 minutes. So if you say something, sound will come out 15 minutes late.

**Truth Bullet #12**

**A weird device is connected to Jigglypuff's microphone and speakers with bluetooth. It also features a setting called 'delay'.**

"This is the most interesting thing here." the blonde girl started. "It's an e-Handbook. When you switch it on it doesn't display a name. It's just says that it can open any door requiring an e-Handbook."

"I think that might have been someone's accessory."

**Truth Bullet #13**

**An extra e-handbook with the ability to open any door was in the girl's changing room. It was most likely an accessory given by Master Hand.**

Before leaving, I noticed that the floor was completely dry.

**Truth Bullet #14**

**The girl's changing room is dry.**

I figured the best place to go to was the gym. That was where we had left the boxes with the accessories after all.

* * *

Once I arrived, I saw Jigglypuff looking upset.

"Are you okay, Jigglypuff?"

"I don't know. I'm so confused. Why was there a microphone in the girl's changing room? I didn't even see it. I never heard any singing, I only rushed out when I heard a loud splash. That's when I saw the others in the pool."

**Truth Bullet #15**

**Jigglypuff came out of the changing room when she heard a loud splash. She didn't hear any singing.**

I decided to take a look in the boxes. I noticed some accessories were missing and some were broken. Cloud's dress is torn apart. So that's where all the purple fabric came from. But why are Ryu's red gloves broken?

**Truth Bullet #16**

**There are accessories missing in the gym. These include Link, Jigglypuff, Donkey Kong and Kirby's accessories. Cloud's dress and Ryu's gloves are broken.**

* * *

I returned to the pool hall feeling that there might still be some clues left. I noticed Cloud sitting and staring into space.

"Cloud, are you all right?"

"My head hurts." He sighed. "Seriously, who leaves stuff on the ground where people can trip on them?"

"Hey, did you by chance fall when you entered the changing room?"

"Yes, there was a ball, I think there was also something really hard on the floor. I don't really remember anything afterwards besides waking up in the pool hall."

"Do you think you got knocked out?"

"Hm… Probably…"

**Truth Bullet #17**

**Cloud said that when he entered the changing room he tripped on a ball and fell on something hard which knocked him out.**

I continued to look around and saw Luigi and Ryu talking. The Italian mentioned that every bottle that was on the table and had something red in it wasn't there anymore.

**Truth Bullet #18**

**Every bottle that had something red in it is missing from the table.**

Pikachu was staring at the trash can for some reason. There was probably something of interest. The trash can was covered in a pink towel. The pokémon informed me that it belonged to Jigglypuff. It was completely wet.

**Truth Bullet #19**

**Jigglypuff's towel is wet. She must have used it recently.**

I took the the towel off the trash can and saw a lot of empty bottles. So that's where they where.

**Truth Bullet #20**

**The trash can is full of empty bottles.**

"Ew, is that ear wax on those weird pieces of cloth?" I said in disgust.

"Smells like it…" the little yellow gulped.

**Truth Bullet #21**

**Some red pieces of cloth are covered in ear wax.**

Maybe the killer used them as ear plugs…

***Ding Dong Ding Dong***

" **Yeah, I'm bored… Everyone head to the red door in the first floor of the school area. It's time for the first class trial."**

* * *

Everyone gathered in front of the red door. I could feel the tension in the air rising. Someone in this room had killed Donkey Kong.

"Come on, Link! We're going to solve this case!" Jigglypuff cheered.

"It's not as though you're the most suspicious one here…" Ryu sighed.

"G-guys, let's not-a get into any fights." Luigi stuttered.

I ignored them and decided to step into the elevator. The others followed and I felt the floor shaking and the tension rising. My heart was beating intensely and I felt more and more uneasy. All our lives were on the line. The more the elevator went down, the more stressed I started to feel.

When we arrived to the trial grounds, I noticed the walls had changed. It was decorated in a way that made the room look like an island from a video game. It was really colorful. It didn't fit the situation at all.

"So what do you think? Lovely, am I right or am I right? It's to pay honor to Yoshi." Master Hand said before taking his place next to his Monokuma.

"You think we actually care? Yoshi wouldn't want this at all!" Zelda yelled angrily at the hand. They started arguing the way siblings did while everyone else went to their designated seat. After a while Zelda gave up and took her place.

"All right! Let's get started with this class trial!" the hand ordered.

And just like that, we ended up in a trial again. Someone was going to die no matter what. It was life and death all over again. A puzzle needed solving and the rewards were death or more death. This trial will be a battle between life and death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time it's the trial! Will the killer get away with their crime?
> 
> See you next chapter :)


	8. Chapter 2 - Pool of Despair - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students have finished investigating and must now partake in the second class trial. Will they find the killer or will the killer get away with murder?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating so fast this week. X3
> 
> I also want to say in advance that I won't be online from the 26th of July to the 20th of August because I'll be on vacations.

_This murder mystery… I must solve it. I can't let more people die!_

 

"Let's start with an explanation of the class trial." Monokuma started. "During the trial you will present arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished and you will continue living your normal life here. But if you pick wrong, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be allowed to graduate."

"Let's start with a discussion about the cause of death." Master Hand continued.

"Donkey Kong was covered in cuts and he had no other injuries." Jigglypuff recalled.

"And he died in the boys changing room, so drowning's out of the question." Bayonetta concluded.

"Maybe he died from blood loss?" Captain Falcon suggested.

"No. That's definitely not the case. The floor was covered in coke and water but there wasn't any blood." I remarked.

"Maybe he was strangled?"

"But the Master File said there were no injuries besides the cuts." Pikachu informed the driver.

"I have an idea! What if an accessory was used?" Ryu said.

"Like the poisoned DK's poisoned banana?" Cloud replied.

"What poisoned banana?" Zelda asked.

"When we showed each other our accessories, DK had a banana which was poisoned."

"And now that I remember. It was one of the accessories missing from the boxes in the gym." I mentioned.

"It also had markings. But only someone who was at our meeting would know that." Bayonetta added.

"So that rules out all of us who weren't there." Samus deduced.

"Unless someone told someone else."

"I think I know what happened. The killer must have given Donkey Kong the banana. And since DK loves bananas he ate it!" Captain Falcon smiled with pride.

 

_But that doesn't make sense…_

 

"No, that's impossible! Like Bayonetta said, the banana had markings and everyone in the meeting was aware of them. So there's no way Donkey Kong would have eaten it out of his own free will, since he would have recognized it immediately." I explained.

"But what if-a the killer-a force fed him?" Mario asked.

"That is the most plausible explanation."

"Now that we know about what was most likely the cause of death. We should talk about the singing." Samus demanded.

"It sounded like Jigglypuff…" Ness remembered.

"It did?" the pink puff asked.

"That means you're the culprit! You are the only one who doesn't fall asleep when you sing." the obnoxious driver concluded.

"A-actually Cloud and-a Donkey Kong where in-a the changing room when the singing-a started. That-a means they wouldn't have-a heard it." Luigi stuttered.

"So then Cloud's the killer?"

"Wait. I think there was a fourth person who didn't fall asleep. Pikachu, do you remember when we found the trash can?" I asked the yellow rodent.

"Yeah! There were these red tissues covered in ear wax. They were kinda small so they must have been worn by a human."

"All right, but that doesn't explain the microphone in the girl's changing room." Samus said annoyed.

"Jigglypuff must have brought it."

"But I never saw it!" the pink puff yelled angrily.

"You're probably lying…"

"I think Jigglypuff is telling the truth." Zelda announced. "There was a mysterious e-handbook that acted as a universal key. Anybody could have used it."

"A universal key?"

"Weird, I thought I had gotten rid of it…" Cloud muttered.

"It's yours!?" Captain Falcon yelled.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Bayonetta asked.

"I thought someone might use it to their advantage. So I left it in the hot baths so that it would overheat and break. The killer must have seen me enter." the blond speculated.

"Very suspicious… But as Zelda said, it still could have been any one. But that doesn't change the fact that those two are the most suspicious." the witch said pointing at Jigglypuff and Cloud.

 

_I think the killer wanted us to suspect them… I don't think this conversation will get us anywhere._

 

"Guys, I think maybe we should talk about the purpose of the singing." I suggested.

"Fair enough." Samus said.

"It was obviously to make everyone fall asleep so that the killer could have an alibi. The killer could just say that they were asleep and no one would suspect anything." Ness explained.

"Y-yes. And if-a everyone except-a the killer was asleep, then the killer could have-a easily killed-a someone without anyone else-a noticing." Luigi added.

"But why bother making a trap?" Kirby wondered. "If they were going to kill someone in their sleep what would be the point?"

 

_He's right. Why did the killer bother with a trap? Let me think… Maybe the killer thought that it Jigglypuff didn't sing long enough they would get caught… Maybe it has something to do with the delay option…_

 

"On the device connected to the microphone and speakers there was a setting called delay which delayed the transmission of sound."

"You're right, Link! Maybe the killer couldn't remember how long it took for the delay setting to work or how long Jigglypuff would sing and they made a plan B." Zelda speculated.

"Which was the trap."

"It was a bad trap, that's for sure." Cloud grunted.

"But didn't you fall for it?" Ryu asked.

"That has nothing to do with it… But no one would die from that trap. The most it would do is hurt you a bit."

"What was the trap like?"

"There was a ball and a shield. And like I said, it would only hurt you a bit. I've been in more dangerous situations."

 

_But didn't he say something different earlier?_

 

"Cloud, didn't you say you were knocked out? And that it was something hard that knocked you out."

"I said I thought something hard knocked me out. Emphasis on the thought, Link."

"So then what happened?" Ness asked.

"I only tripped but I managed to avoid the shield but then something… No, someone heavy fell on me which made my head bump into the shield."

"That sounds far-fetched but I'll believe you. For now." Captain Falcon nodded.

"Does anyone-a else find it-a stranger that-a the pool was-a full off… blood or-a something?" the Italian plumber wondered.

"It was full of every red drink and sauce available at the party." I responded.

"I think… I think the killer did all of these things to confuse us." Jigglypuff added.

 

_How didn't I think about it? If we waste time focusing on the unimportant things… Master Hand will get bored and end the trial before we reach a decision._

 

"I think we should talk about the motive." I suggested.

"The motive was to hide a secret…" Pikachu started.

"But what if somebody lied about their secret."

"I never thought about that!" Kirby yelled.

"Master Hand, can I ask a question?"

"A question for moi? Go ahead, Link-boy."

"Did someone lie about their secret at their meeting?"

"Hm… Everything that was said was a truth but not all were THE secret."

"This means no one lied…" Ryu said.

"But instead they told a different embarrassing secret." I replied.

"So? How will this help?" Samus interrupted.

"Uh…"

"Maybe we should go back to when the death happened." Ness proposed.

"Everyone besides Link and Jigglypuff where in the water." Pikachu remembered.

"And before-a that, Jigglypuff, Cloud and DK where in-a the changing room." Mario added.

"Jigglypuff's towel was also in the trash can."

"What did you say, Pikachu? My towel was. IN. THE. TRASH!" the pink puff screamed.

"Jigglypuff, what did you dry yourself with?" I asked.

"Uh…"

"If I recall correctly, Jigglypuff never grabbed her towel before going back to the changing room." Kirby added.

"Well, I think we can vote now." Ryu suggested.

"No, it's impossible for it to be Jigglypuff." Cloud started, "How would she get in the boys changing room?"

"The universal e-Handbook."

"But the girl's changing room's floor was completely dry. If she had walked through it, there would be some water on the floor." I explained. "But for some reason her towel was wet and in the trash. I think the killer tried to hide their foot prints."

"Hide-a their foot prints?" Luigi mumbled.

"Yes. Cloud and Donkey Kong were covered in coke and so was the changing room's floor. This means the killer would have gotten their feet dirty and leave foot prints."

"So? She could have-a tried to-a trick us?" Mario grunted.

"I don't know if it was her…"

"But guys what about the trap? When did the killer have the time to set it up?" Zelda asked out of nowhere.

"Who was the last guy to arrive?"

"I-a think it was-a Cloud." Mario recalled.

"I didn't set the trap. There wasn't anything in the changing room when I arrived." said Cloud.

"Didn't Ryu go to the changing room at some point?" Kirby tried to remember.

"Yeah, you said he ate barely anything." I recalled. "But Ryu didn't have anything wrong with him when he came back. So unless Ryu somehow managed to miss the trap, it couldn't have been set up by Cloud at the beginning of the party."

"So maybe Ryu set it up?" Captain Falcon hypothesized.

"What use would it have been if I was asleep when the singing started?"

"My money is on-a Cloud." Mario announced.

"Mine's on Jigglypuff." Ryu replied.

"I-a think it was-a Cloud who set up-a the trap."

 

_Somethings wrong here… There's no way Cloud would have had the time to set it up…_

 

"It couldn't have been Cloud. If Donkey Kong was right behind him, he would have never had the time to set it. And if he's the Ultimate Mercenary… Wouldn't he know how to make a lethal trap?"

"You're right, Link." Zelda agreed. "How could the Ultimate Mercenary fall for his own trap?"

"Maybe he lied about his talent." Ryu answered.

"No, that can't be it. I wouldn't fall for my own trap and my talent is singing." Jigglypuff disagreed.

"Or maybe he set up the trap after killing Donkey Kong."

"And how would I have killed him? There's no way I could force him to eat the banana."

"Cloud's got a point. Donkey Kong is physically stronger than him." the pink puff argued.

"Maybe he didn't have to force DK to eat it. DK knew Cloud was at the meeting and had heard about the poisoned banana. He probably trusted Cloud and thought it was a normal banana." Ryu countered.

"There's a problem with your theory." Bayonetta smirked. "Cloud told Donkey Kong he didn't want to eat anything banana related. Thus it wouldn't make sense for Cloud to have a banana with him."

"Maybe DK committed suicide?"

"All right, this is ridiculous."

 

_Damn it, this isn't getting anywhere…_

 

Zelda looked at me and smiled. "Don't worry, Link. You're the Ultimate Puzzle Solver. I'm sure you'll find out who the killer is."

"T-thanks." I blushed.

 

_If I remember… Jigglypuff said Donkey Kong was stronger than Cloud, which means he's also stronger than her. Donkey Kong is also much heavier than them so they would both have a hard time pushing… Hm… I have an idea._

 

"Hey, Cloud. What's your fighting specialty?"

"Fighting specialty? I'm good with swords."

"Jigglypuff, how long does it take for people to fall asleep when they hear you sing?"

"Thirty seconds at most."

"This means it wouldn't make sense for either of you two to be the killer."

"W-what!?" they both replied in unison.

"Donkey Kong is much heavier than Jigglypuff so she would be unable to push or pull Donkey Kong out of the changing room. Cloud might be able to move Donkey Kong. But since his specialty is swordsmanship, he would have no problem using the sword to make it seem like Donkey Kong was stabbed to death."

"But what's with the thirty seconds?" Ness asked.

"That's all the time the killer would have needed to go back to the changing room."

"And there are very few people who would be able to move DK!" Captain Falcon yelled.

"You're strong, right?" Kirby wondered.

"And stupid. No way he's the killer." Samus bluntly said upsetting the driver.

 

_But there's only one of them who would be able to move Donkey Kong…_

 

"Ryu… You're the killer. You're the only one who had the knowledge about the banana and the strength to move Donkey Kong."

"W-what? He's-a the killer?" Luigi asked in shock.

"It makes sense, DK is big and strong and DK wouldn't suspect anything if Ryu gave him a banana." Ness said.

"W-w should-a review the case, Link."

"In the morning, we received our motives: embarrassing secrets. Some people, including the killer, organized a reunion to reveal their secrets and accessories given by Masterhand. After the meeting, Cloud went to get rid of the universal e-handbook by letting it overheat in the baths. However, he was unaware that the killer had seen him and went to check the baths out. The killer took it and rushed to get Jigglypuff's microphone set.

They then rushed to the changing rooms before any could arrive and entered the girl's changing room. They left the microphone, a device on the delay setting and the universal e-handbook and went to the boy's changing room afterwards. They then arrived normally and no one suspected anything.

The party continued and at a certain point Jigglypuff felt the need to sing so she went back to the girl's changing room to sing. The killer went back to the boy's changing room in order to avoid the singing. But the singing never happened.

Unaware of this, the killer rushed to the gym to get some accessories to make a trap. They used a ball and a shield to make the trap. They returned to the pool hall and noticed nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Kirby shot Cloud with a water gun full of coke which covered him along with Donkey Kong in coke. Jigglypuff who had just come out tripped and got covered as well. The three of them returned to the changing rooms and soon after the singing started. People started falling asleep but the killer quickly rushed to the changing room and barely avoided falling asleep.

At that time, Cloud tripped on the ball and narrowly avoided hitting himself on the shield. Donkey Kong probably fell on top of Cloud who was then knocked out. Donkey Kong was most likely in distress when the killer arrived. The killer unpeeled the poisoned banana for Donkey Kong to pretend to cheer him up. Donkey Kong trusted the killer and ate the banana resulting in his death.

Afterwards, the killer used the sword to cut Donkey Kong to make it seem like he had bled to death but since the killer didn't know how to properly use a sword, their cuts weren't deep. They also tied a cloth around his neck to make it seem like he could have been strangled. They then decided to move Donkey Kong to the pool. Thanks to some red cloth they had ripped from their gloves, they managed to make some substitutes to ear plugs to avoid falling asleep. In order to confuse everyone they decided to use red liquids to make it seem like DK had bled to death but they added too much. They then threw away the bottles. After that, they took Cloud and move him in to the pool since leaving him unconscious could make it obvious that he wasn't the killer. They then decided to move everyone except me to the pool. They most likely did this to confuse us, but left someone out so that they could save everyone because they didn't want to kill everyone.

After that, the killer took Jigglypuff's towel and cleaned all of their footsteps. They soaked the towel to clean it and threw away the earplugs. They threw the towel too and quickly jumped into the pool making it seem like they had also been moved.

Thus the killer could easily blame the murder on either Cloud or Jigglypuff."

 

_That was longer than I thought. How did I not get interrupted?_

 

"So what do you say, Ryu?"

"..."

"No! It can't-a be." Mario frowned.

"..."

"Please, tell me it's not true…" Pikachu sniffed.

"..."

"Where's your evidence, Link? Half of what you said is speculation!"

"Well-"

"It can't be Ryu. He investigated with us. He was our friend."

"Maybe-"

"There's no way it could have been him!"

"Pika-"

"It was Jigglypuff or Cloud."

"Guys stop it!" Captain Falcon yelled grabbing everyone's attention. "Maybe if they all tell their secrets and Master Hand tells us whether it's true or not, we can know who the killer is!"

"That won't be needed… I… I killed him." Ryu admitted. "Master Hand, you can start the vote."

"All right!"

I pulled the lever in front of me and voted Ryu. It really felt wrong but it was him or everyone else.

"You guys are… Totally wrong!"

 

_What?_

 

"Nah, just kidding. Right again it seems."

"R-Ryu, why?" Pikachu sobbed.

"Let me explain." Master Hand announced. "Ryu has a dark side which manifests when there's a lot of fighting and despair. Let's call him Satsui Ryu. Anyway, Satsui is all fighting killing with no honor. He also started to take over because of the despair. Honestly, he'd be perfect for the Remnants of Despair. The reason Ryu had to go to the changing room was 'cause he felt Satsui taking over. Eventually he did take over and wanted to escape so that's why all of that happened. But Ryu managed to take over a bit and saved you guys. How honorable!"

"But why Donkey Kong?" I asked.

"He just happened to be there…"

"I see…"

"Hey, guys? It's time-" the hand announced.

"To duel?" Cloud interrupted.

"Yes, time to duel… It's time for punishment, you brat!"

* * *

Ryu is transported to a Japanese temple. Outside the temple there are giant Monokumas trying to look for him. They crouch to try and see through windows and one of them rips the roofs revealing Ryu. His face turns extremely pale as the Monokuma approaches him. He tries to run away but the bear is too fast and grabs him. Ryu tries to struggle out but it doesn't help. The bear raises him so that he can look at Ryu face-to-face. The bare stares for a little while and Ryu is shaking.

**Crouching Bear, Hidden Dragon**

Suddenly it throws Ryu into the air and he lets out a loud scream. A small Monokuma dressed as a kung fu fighter appears and jumps into the air. It starts punching the martial artist. Each punch arrives faster than the last one and Ryu's face is blue and covered in blood. He desperately tries to block but to no avail. The bear then lets out a strong punch and Ryu falls to the ground. Ryu tries to move out of the way and avoids the strong punch. The bear just stares and the giant Monokumas walk towards them. They all crouch at the same time and bump into each other resulting with all of them falling. Ryu scream once more when he sees the robots falling. However none of his efforts to escape work and he ends up crushed. The small Monokuma stares as blood splatters on it and just starts laughing.

* * *

A second murder… A second execution…

Our lives… They don't mean anything to Master Hand. They're completely worthless to him. How we're still sane remains a mystery to me.

The others felt sad. Pikachu was crying. The atmosphere was full of despair.

"Hey, Master Hand. What's the point of these insane executions?" Kirby asked seemingly unfazed by what just happened.

"They're for despair. Despair for you. Despair for the world."

"For the world?"

"Yeah! You'll figure it out. Maybe! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You're crazy…"

"Whatever."

The trial ended with Master Hand laughing. Two more where dead but we had to continue our 'daily' life. If our lives carried on like this, I knew our friendship and cooperation would turn into chaos and despair. The worst kind of despair…

* * *

"We're doing pretty well, you know?"

"..."

"What's with the silence?"

"..."

"You know you were the one who started all of this."

"You're playing your role wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Yeah, wrong! Acting all high and crazy when I told you to be intimidating and serious."

"Really?"

"I see what you're doing. You're not following my orders. Oh, the despair that comes from being ignored by someone like you."

"So when will we reveal it to the them?"

"What? That there are two masterminds? We already did. Long ago before this all happened. Their faces were full of despair."

"They hated you after that…"

"I know. How despairing is it when all your classmates hate you?"

"At least the Remnants like you…"

"Meh, they can go burn in Hell. Along with you. And me. And everyone else. What do you think?"

"It's a great idea!"

"I know. But still. You're acting all wrong. Lay down on the craziness."

"But won't they notice the change?"

"Probably. They'll be one step closer to finding us out. I can't wait! Our plan will be ruined!"

"How despair inducing…"

"They'll also despair. Along with the whole wide world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Next time we'll explore a new floor.  
> See you next chapter!


	9. Chapter 3 - Stand Tall - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the second trial, Link and the other students must explore the new floor.  
> But just when they think everything will be fine Master Hand gives them a new motive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long. Chapter 3 is the worst Danganronpa chapter so it was pretty hard to write.  
> I also feel like there's a lot of dialog but since this story is based on a VN it would be weird if there wasn't much of it.

The next morning, I went to eat at the cafeteria. Pikachu and Mario were missing and the atmosphere was tense. I sat next to Zelda and started eating and listening to what the others where talking about.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Captain Falcon sighed.

"Eat breakfast?" Kirby replied while munching on his sandwich.

"That was a rhetorical question, Kirbs," Bayonetta said, "Didn't Master Hand mention something about a new floor opening up after each trial?"

"I think he did. Maybe after breakfast we should go and explore."

"But what about Pikachu and Mario?" Ness asked.

"I'll go call-a Mario."

"While Luigi does that, I can get Pikachu." Jigglypuff smiled.

"If they don't want to-a come… We can-a leave them be, we'll-a tell them about what-a we found."

* * *

After breakfast, we split up into groups of three. Mario decided to help in the end but Pikachu stayed locked up in his room. My group had Mario and Bayonetta in it.

We were making our way to the staircase when Bayonetta noticed that the infirmary was open. That's weird… I don't remember it, maybe it was camouflaged or something… The room had two beds and lots of medical stuff. I don't even know what half of this is. Since there was nothing special, we headed to the third floor.

Once up, Mario wanted to go to the right. There were to classrooms. Both were empty and the blackboards were covered in pictures of Monokuma and Master Hand.

We then went to the left. A little door was opposite the stair case.

"No way! There are video games here!" I yelled.

"Well, it-a is, the recreational-a room."

"This seems like a fun room. There's a billiard table, a dartboard, even magazines." Bayonetta said as she looked around the room.

"We have all kind of things here. But don't expect to find porn here or anywhere else. We need to keep this story safe for work." Master Hand explained appearing out of nowhere.

"I got my eye on you, Mario." Monkuma smiled.

"Why-a me?"

"Will you put out new issues?" I asked.

The bear shrugged and left with Master Hand who rambled about spoilers if he answered.

We continued to observe the room. There was a small table with some board games on it and two chairs next to it. Behind it, there was a locker and a cupboard with figurines on top of it. There was also a screen with Monkuma on it. I'm pretty sure this wasn't here before…

* * *

We walked through the hall and entered what appeared to be the art room. It was full of statues and tables. It didn't seem too odd until Bayonetta pointed out a Monokuma statue. The wall was also covered in drawings of Monokuma. Is Master Hand obsessed with Monokuma?

Mario found a door leading to the art supplies room. There were hammers, tools, trolleys and other supplies. It didn't seem strange until I found a photo. I took a look and saw something that made no sense.

"W-why is there a photo of Ryu, Fox and Donkey Kong?"

"What-a the hell are you-a talking about, a-Link?"

"Why are they smiling?" Bayonetta asked taking a peak at the photo.

I could feel questions rushing into my head. Why are they together? Why are they smiling? When was this taken? And the window in the background… It wasn't covered in metal plates. Where they friends before joining Hope's Peak? Maybe this was edited.

"Hey! Give me that!" Master Hand yelled as he grabbed the picture.

"What's with the picture?" the witch asked.

"Not gonna tell you!" the hand screamed childishly as he disappeared with out a trace.

"I-a hate that-a hand! Let's-a go, guys."

* * *

The last place to check on this floor was the physics lab. It looked a lot more like a professional lab than a school one. There was even a big machine in the middle of the room. I wonder what it does…

'Air purification'

Guess, that explains how we're not running out of air to breathe.

Mario went to check out another small room and I continued looking around the lab with Bayonetta. She found a pink camera which she decided to keep.

When Mario returned he said there wasn't anything special inside the room so we headed back to the cafeteria.

We waited for everyone to arrive and we talked about what we had found. Bayonetta told everyone about the strange photo. Everyone seemed confused and we all decided it was probably Master Hand messing with us.

* * *

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

Why is it that when we find something of interest it only brings in more questions? I should just go to bed.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

After breakfast, I felt really bored and Captain Falcon had made it his mission to entertain me. He took a packet of cookies and told me a sto- Wait, didn't this happen already?

"This cookie is you. This cookie is your cousin. This one is your other cousin. One day, one of the cookies yells 'Link' but the two cookies don't know who the cookie is referring to."

"Um… I think that's way too complicated…" I said trying not to hurt the driver's feelings.

"I see… Maybe the cookies should have different names. Hey, how do you even handle family meetings?"

"We all have nicknames. I'm Time since I tend to get things done just on time. My other cousins are Toon and Twilight."

"Why Toon?"

"He's very short and cute. He also hates cartoons." I laughed.

"But why? Cartoons are awesome! Does Twilight hate Twilight?"

"Yeah… He once won a ticket for the premiere of the movie but since he's very quiet he couldn't tell his parents that he didn't want to go. He ended up ranting to me for hours."

"Wow, what bad luck… I heard that movie was bad and every love story is better than it."

"Well, he's pretty unlucky… But if every love story is better than Twilight, you might stand a chance in life."

"Y-you're right! How did I not notice? The answer was right in front of me. If… No, when we get out here, we are so gonna look for your cousin and thank him."

"Huh!? We are?"

"Yeah! Let's make some cookies." the driver cheered.

"But I don't know how to bake."

"Let's get Mario to help."

* * *

We went to get Mario and he taught us how to make cookies. The Italian plumber seemed to be feeling better. Or maybe he felt like a grand chef because of Captain Falcon's cookies.

Mario's cookies looked like the yummiest cookies on Earth. The texture, the placement of the chocolate chips… Everything about them screamed delicious.

I thought mine looked fine. Not bad considering it was my first time making them.

Captain Falcon's on the other hand… They didn't look good but since Mario made the dough they probably tasted nice.

Captain Falcon took a plastic bag and ran out of the cafeteria yelling that he was going to decorate the bag in the art room. Mario sighed and tried his cookies.

"That guy is hopeless." I chuckled.

"At least he's-a happy. I've had it-a tough with my-a love life."

"You got a lot of SR only scouts too?"

"Mamma Mia, Link. Love life not Love-a Live."

"Oh… Uh, so you got rejected?"

"Yes," he sighed, "Princess-a Toadstool was the love of my-a life but she-a liked another man. She said he was the only hot-a guy she had ever-a met."

"I guess since she's a princess she must have some really high standards."

"Maybe… But she called me-a fat. She was-a also really into all kinds of-a sports so maybe…"

I feel bad for him… But I can see Toadstool's point.

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you work out?" I smiled.

"Hm… I could try that. It would-a make fitting into-a pipes much-a easier too."

That… Kinda sounded weird. Should I…? No, I shouldn't upset him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working out with Mario. Captain Falcon returned and showed us his 'I love you, Samus' bag. It was really hard to hold in my laughter at the sight of his badly painted bag.

The three of us had dinner together and talked about silly things. After a while, we parted ways and went back to our rooms.

 ***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

This day was pretty fun. I wonder what I should do with my leftover cookies. Maybe I could share them with someone? Well… I'm feeling tired so I should just sleep.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I left my room and the first thing I saw was Captain Falcon running towards me. He happily told me that he was going to give Samus his cookies. I decided to allow him to pursue his hopeless dreams even though reason told me I should stop him.

After having breakfast, Zelda came up to me and asked me about the cookies.

"You want to know how to make cookies?"

"Yeah! I heard that Mario taught you and Captain Falcon how to make them." she smiled.

"I hope Captain Falcon ends up all right…"

"I saw him running towards Samus' room earlier this morning but I haven't seen him since."

"Well, I better start showing you how to make the cookies."

I showed Zelda how the cookies were made and once they were all done, we ate them together.

"Have you ever cooked?" the princess asked.

"No, but I have a relative who's pretty good at cooking. What about you?"

"I've never cooked either. Back at home, I had professional chefs making my food."

"Your meals must have been really delicious."

"They were but I think I like Mario and Luigi's cooking better."

"Yeah, their food is the best! But why isn't one of them the Ultimate Cook?"

"I think it has something to do with how the school can't have two people with the same talent at once. Let's say there are two persons who's talent is being the Ultimate Princess, the first person to enter the school gets to keep that talent until they graduate and no one else with the same talent can enter unless their talent is slightly different. Like if the second Ultimate Princess is also the Ultimate Manipulator, then she can enter the school as that." Zelda explained to me as I attempted to understand what she was talking about.

"I guess that makes sense. It would be weird to have two same Ultimates with the same talent at the same time."

"The only exception is the Ultimate Lucky Student. There's one that's chosen every year by the lottery, I think."

"I never knew this school had such a complicated system like that." I sighed as Zelda laughed.

"But that doesn't matter anymore. We have to get out of here." the blonde said.

"Yeah, you're right. But it's not like there's any way out that doesn't involve killing."

"We'll just have to find a different way out. I'm going to go do some research in the library. See you later."

* * *

I was walking around the school when I saw Bayonetta eating something.

"These cookies are the best!"

Huh? Weren't those Captain Falcon's cookies? Why is Bayonetta eating them?

"Hey, Link! You've got to try these. They look gross but they taste amazing."

"Where did you get them?"

"Samus gave them to me. Isn't she so nice?" the witch grinned.

So that's what happened… I feel kinda bad for Captain Falcon.

"Um… Do you want to hang out?" I asked nervously.

"Sure. Let's go to the recreational room."

Bayonetta took out some games and we played for about an hour.

"This was fun. You're pretty good at games," she said.

"Thanks, I never knew you were amazing at fighting games."

"They're my favorite kind of games. My favorite one is called  _Super Bash Sisters."_

"I've played that game. It's pretty fun. I'd always play it at family gatherings."

"You're lucky to have played that game with your family. I never got the chance to play it with them."

"Maybe you will once we get out."

"Yeah, I hope. Hey, who did you main? My main was the sorcerer guy."

"My main was the blonde elf girl."

"We should have a SBS tournament with everyone when we get out."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good idea."

* * *

I was in my room about to take a nap when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and saw Samus.

"Link, do you know why Captain Falcon wanted to give me cookies?"

"Uh… No, I just know he wanted to learn how to make them…" I lied.

"I see. Anyway, I came to ask if you wanted to help me paint my Monokuma plushy."

"You haven't painted it, yet?"

"I couldn't find a color I liked but since we now have an art room, I can paint it any color I want."

"Sounds fun, let's do it."

I spent the afternoon painting my Monokuma plushy. It was now green and much cuter. I was even contemplating about giving it to Toon but he'd probably get really mad. Maybe Twilight would like it?

"I'm finally done!" Samus cheered as she showed me her Monokuma.

It was orange and looked like it was wearing some weird suit. It also had a blue arm which I assumed was supposed to be some laser gun. Her plushy reminded me of something…

"How do you like this, Monokuma!" the bounty hunter laughed making Monokuma appear.

"I can't believe it. You ruined it," the bear sobbed.

"Actually, she made it better." I replied.

"White shows off all the dirt and dust." the blonde added.

"I'm gonna tell Master Hand to make you a special execution."

"Tell him I say thanks."

Monokuma walked out of the room yelling and Samus and I parted ways.

* * *

It was getting late and I was hungry, so I went to the cafeteria but something felt off. Monokuma was standing on a table and yelling. He said he wanted everyone to be at the gym for a special present. Everyone was pretty suspicious but we didn't have a choice. We had to go or who knows what would happen to us.

Everyone gathered at the gym, even Pikachu. He still seemed very depressed and sat alone in a corner. But I didn't have time to speak to him once Master Hand appeared.

"You guys sure took your time," Master Hand complained, "Anyway, I have a special present for you guys since you've been very good students."

"If this is a motive, I swear I will-" Samus started before being cutoff.

"You swear you will what? Kill me? Good luck trying," the hand taunted, "Let's not get too ambitious. If you want to leave kill someone."

"You son of a-"

"Will you shut up? I am the one with an important announcement to make, Sammy."

"Don't-"

"Anyways, today's motive is going to be… Ten billion yen!" Master Hand announced while a pile of money fell in front of him.

Ten billion yen? Where did he even get all that money? How is money supposed to be a motive?

"You actually think we're going to kill each other for money?!" Jigglypuff yelled angrily.

"Yes, I think you will."

"Then you're wrong."

"When am I ever wrong?" the hand said leaving Jigglypuff speechless.

"It's not like anyone here has a desperate need for money," Kirby said.

"True. None of us have a talent that's related to money, so there shouldn't be a reason for anyone to kill for it," Captain Falcon smiled trying to cheer everyone up.

"Yeah, it's not as if-a two of the people in this-a room were-a payed to kill-a people." Mario replied sarcastically.

"Actually, I was only payed to fight people," Cloud corrected.

"Yeah, Mario! Cloud's only payed to fight people not kill them. Upupupu!" Monokuma laughed.

"Exactly, even Monokuma gets it."

I don't think that's a good thing… But I don't believe Samus and Cloud would kill someone for money.

"I wish our future killer good luck. Now go to bed, you brats!" Master Hand yelled before disappearing into thin air.

The room was quiet. I wanted to go check on Pikachu but he was gone. He's probably still depressed. I should go eat dinner and go to bed.

 ***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

I don't think anyone will die tonight. I hope I'm right…

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

No, I want to sleep…

"I want to sleep but no. I have to watch over you brats."

"Go away, Monokuma."

With no other choice, I was forced to go out of my room to go the cafeteria for some breakfast. Everything seemed normal, so I sat down and ate breakfast with Kirby and Ness.

"Hey, Link," the young psychic started, "I've got an idea. What if everyone hangs out in the same room the whole day. Since we'll all be together it won't be possible for anyone to kill somebody."

"That's a pretty good idea, Ness."

"But what about Pikachu?" the pink puff asked.

"I guess if he's the only one who's not in the room it will be fine. He can't kill anyone if he's not with us."

"I should tell the others!" Ness smiled as he got off his chair.

He was about to run when he tripped over something.

"Are you okay, Ness?" I asked the young boy. He assured me he was fine but that didn't convince Kirby.

"Hey, Luigi! What's the big deal with the broken plate on the floor?"

"W-what are you-a talking about, Kirby?"

"Ness just tripped because of it."

"Kirby, I'm fine."

The three almost got into a fight but Mario saved the day by bringing some more food. The plumber went back to the kitchen to make more food.

"Mamma mia!" he yelled in pain.

"M-mario, are you-a okay?" Luigi asked as he rushed to Mario's aid.

"I-a cut my self with the knife. I think I will be-a fine. I've had-a worse."

Once everyone except Pikachu arrived, Ness announced his plan. Everyone agreed to it and we decided to hang out in the recreational room.

* * *

We played games, read magazines and ate some pop corn. We were enjoying ourselves until Bayonetta announced out of the blue that she wanted to see Cloud in a dress.

"If Cloud won't then I will," Captain Falcon said proudly.

"What!?" we all yelled in unison.

"I said that if Cloud won't cross-dress then I will."

"No one would ever think you're a girl…" Samus sighed.

"So? We should have fun! Let's all cross-dress together."

"Wait, but how am I supposed to cross-dress?" Kirby asked.

"I don't know…"

"Cloud's the expert, he can help you!" Jigglypuff grinned.

"I mentioned cross-dressing once and that's all you remember me for…" Cloud said.

"Hey, people only remember my singing because they fell asleep to it."

* * *

After about an hour of negotiations, Cloud finally agreed to help Captain Falcon and Kirby cross-dress. They left to go change and the rest of us played games as we waited.

"This is gonna be so funny. I even brought the camera I found," Bayonetta smiled.

"Hey, guys. I can't find Cloud and Kirby anywhere?" the Ultimate Driver yelled storming into the room.

"We're right behind you..."

"These two girls have been following me claiming they're Cloud and Kirby."

"That's 'cause we are," the pink puff yelled pushing the driver.

The three guys stood in front of us. Captain Falcon appeared to be very terrified for the wrong reasons. He was convinced that Cloud and Kirby were impostors. To be fair, they did look almost unrecognizable.

"Okay, look. This person here is Cloud wearing a dress," Samus explained pointing to the cross-dressing blond, "He let his hair down and put on makeup to look like a pretty girl."

"But Samus, you're way prettier." the driver complained.

"That's besides the point. Anyways, this is Kirby. He is wearing a wig and a flower on his… Head?"

"Oh, I see. If I take this off, it's Kirby!"

"My wig!" Kirby shouted.

"This is becoming a pain in the ass. Let's get changed." Cloud sighed.

"Wait, I need to take pictures!" Bayonetta said as she turned on her camera, "If I die without taking pictures, I will never forgive myself."

"It's a bit boring with the walls. We should go to the art room. I bet there are things we could use to make the background more interesting," Zelda suggested.

"You're right. Zelda and Link, you guys come and help me get some decorations."

* * *

I left the room with Bayonetta and Zelda and we went to the art room. I tried opening the door but it was locked for some reason. We called Monokuma but he told us the door was just stuck. Bayonetta got pretty upset and she kicked the door open.

When we entered the room we were surprised to see Pikachu but something was wrong. He was tied to a statue and his mouth and nose were covered with tape. We rushed to him and opened his eyes for a short while. But it was too late for us to do anything.

" **A body has been discovered! A body has been discovered! The trial will commence soon."**

"B-but how? No one should have been able to… Why him?" I said on the verge of tears.

"It's okay, Link. We'll find out what happened," Zelda attempted to comfort me.

"You're right. We need to find out who did this to Pikachu."

I can't cry right now. I need to solve this case. For Pikachu… No, for everyone's sake. I can't have more people dying. I can't let the mastermind win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should take less time since all the truth bullets and murder scenario have already been planned.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter :)


	10. Chapter 3 - Stand Tall - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Kirby and Captain Falcon's help, Link investigates in order to solve Pikachu's murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here!  
> Blame school for all the delays.

After the body discovery announcement, all the other students rushed into the art room to join Zelda, Bayonetta and I. As they saw Pikachu's body, the atmosphere in the room changed. The room that was once full of despair was no full of different emotions.

"W-we're all going to-a d-die," Luigi cried.

"We can't cry right now, we've got to find justice for Pikachu," said Ness.

"Who's going to stay to guard the body?" Bayonetta asked.

Samus and Jigglypuff volunteered to stay and with that, the investigation started.

I turned on my e-Handbook and read the Master File.

**The victim was Pikachu Tajiri. He had sustained various injuries, including broken bones, before dying of suffocation. His time of death was just before the body discovery announcement.**

Damn it, if only we'd entered sooner… He could have been saved…

Trying to ignore my emotions, I took a look at Pikachu's body. He really didn't deserve this cruel death. His mouth and nose were covered with a large piece of tape.

**Truth Bullet #2 Pikachu's mouth and nose have been covered with tape.**

A weird cable was tied around the yellow pokemon's neck. I tried to untie it but it was tied too tightly. I guess this is probably what killed him…

**Truth Bullet #3 A cable had been tightly tied around Pikachu's neck.**

There doesn't seem to be any more evidence on him. I should look around the art room now.

"L-link?"

"Yes, Luigi?"

"I-I think Pikachu committed-a suicide. He was only-a going out of his-a room for-a early breakfast and-a late-a dinner…"

"Did he show any suicidal tendencies?"

"I don't-a think so. Do you-a think Master Hand will-a execute someone randomly if-"

"You shouldn't think like that, Luigi," Ness interrupted, "You should help me investigate! Let's go take a look at his body again. Maybe we missed something. See you later, Link."

"Okay?"

**Truth Bullet #4 Luigi said Pikachu only went out of his room to eat breakfast and dinner when no one was up.**

That was a weird conversation…

I saw a hammer with some blood on it lying on the floor. The killer must have used it to break Pikachu's bones.

**Truth Bullet #5 A hammer covered in blood was lying on the floor of the art room.**

I was about to leave the room when something on the door caught my attention. A type of glue had been used on it. The killer must have used it to make it harder for Pikachu to escape. This reminds me of a game I played once.

**Truth Bullet #6 There's glue stuck on the door making it hard to open.**

I wonder where I should investigate now. Probably the cafeteria since it's the only place Pikachu visited.

* * *

In the cafeteria, I saw Kirby making himself a sandwich. He told me that he needed food in order to unlock his mind's true potential. I was about to tell the puff that he couldn't unlock his potential that way but Captain Falcon started yelling.

"Guys! Look at what I found in the trash can," he said showing us a trash can.

Kirby and I looked at him in confusion as he pulled out a photograph. It was a photo of some yellow creature with big ears.

"I wonder who-" I started before being struck with a realization, "Doesn't it look like Pikachu? Could this be…"

"Who is it, Link?" Kirby asked.

"I think this is Pikachu's brother."

"Pikachu has a brother?"

"Yeah, he mentioned him once. He said he was called Pichu."

"But how did Pikachu get a picture of his brother? I don't even have a photo of myself."

"I'm not sure. Maybe Master Hand gave it to him? He did leave a strange photo before."

"I think we need to investigate this room."

**Truth Bullet #7 A photo of Pichu was found in the trash can by Captain Falcon.**

"Ew, there's a notepad covered in juices and stuff," the driver shrieked in disgust as he lifted a notepad with illegible writing on it.

**Truth Bullet #9 A notepad was found in the trash can. Juices and sauces have rendered the writing illegible.**

This trash can is proving to be quite interesting. I never thought Captain Falcon could do something useful.

"I've noticed something, Link," Kirby cried angrily, "None of this food has been touched yet it's in the trash!"

**Truth Bullet #10 There's a lot of untouched food in the trash can.**

What a waste. I totally get why Kirby is so upset by this.

"Hey, why's the broken plate still on the floor?" the pink puff said sounding even more upset.

**Truth Bullet #11 The broken plate is still on the floor.**

That seems to be it for the cafeteria. Where should I head to now?

"Kirby, don't you think it's weird that the floor doesn't have any yellow fur on it?" Captain Falcon noticed.

"Hey, you're right for once. Pikachu had to have come here to eat, how come there's no actual evidence of him coming in here?"

"That's weird… Luigi said Pikachu came in here to eat breakfast and dinner," I recalled.

"We've definitely got to bring this up once we're in the trial," Kirby smirked, "Maybe there's some evidence in Pikachu's room."

* * *

After dealing with an annoying speech by Monokuma, Kirby, Captain Falcon and I managed to get into Pikachu's room to investigate.

The state of Pikachu's room really surprised me. I never saw him as the kind of person to have a tidy room with books. Maybe he liked reading despite being a mascot?

I got closer to a book stack on Pikachu's desk and noticed all the books were about Hope's Peak.

**Truth Bullet #12 Pikachu appears to have kept multiple books about Hope's Peak in his room.**

Was he trying to solve the mystery of the school on his own?

I continued my investigation and found a list in Pikachu's drawer. It was a list of all the classes in Hope's Peak from the first one to the sixty-second one.

**Truth Bullet #13 A list of class 1 to class 62 has been found in Pikachu's drawer.**

"Hey, do any of you know in which class we were supposed to be?" I asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" the puff replied.

"I think it was sixty-four," Captain Falcon answered.

"That's weird. If we're class sixty-four, what happened to class sixty-three?" I wondered.

"It isn't on that list? Maybe the list is two years old," Kirby theorized.

"Probably, the paper does look a bit old."

I continued looking around and noticed there were some leftovers and juice boxes in the trash can. Didn't Luigi say that Pikachu ate in the cafeteria? Maybe Pikachu only went to make food there and Luigi thought he was eating…

**Truth Bullet #14 The leftovers and juice boxes in Pikachu's room seem to indicate that Pikachu ate in his room and not the cafeteria.**

I looked around the desk once more to make sure I didn't miss anything and I found a note.

_**If you're reading this then I'm probably dead. I've been feeling really depressed and useless lately. So I've decided to do some research about Hope's Peak. Every night, I've been going to the archive in order to figure out as much as I can. But I think someone has been following me lately. I think they're going to kill me at night when no one will be able to come up with an alibi. I've left a box in the archive with some of my findings, I hope that person hasn't moved it. I think Link should keep the box (if it's still in the archive) in order to continue my research and get everyone who's still alive out of this school.** _

_**Pikachu** _

**Truth Bullet #15 Pikachu left a note in which he wrote about his time in the archive and how he thought he was being followed by someone who wanted to kill him.**

I showed the note to Kirby and Captain Falcon and they agreed to help me move the books in Pikachu's room to mine so that we'd be able to use them later.

* * *

After leaving the books in my room, the three of us went to the archive on the second floor. We found the box and opened it. There was a notebook, some photos and some books in it.

**Truth Bullet #16 Pikachu left a box in the archive. It has a notebook, a few photos and some books in it.**

I read a few pages of the notebook and was pretty interested but decided to stop as it didn't seem relevant to the trial. I told myself to make a mental note to read it later.

I looked through the photos in the box and noticed they all had "class 63" written at the back. The class seemed really weird. There were only fifteen students…

Oh, wait. There's this blond guy who's face is never visible. He was even pushed out of the official class photo by this blue haired girl, or maybe pretty boy, who seems way too happy in it. He seems really unlucky… Maybe he was the Ultimate Lucky Student…

"Link, did you notice that this blonde girl is always circled?" Kirby pointed out.

"She's almost as pretty as Samus. Almost," Captain Falcon said as I mentally face palmed.

"No… Maybe it's important to the case," I sighed.

"I thought you'd be the first to notice," the pink puff puffed.

"I kinda got distracted by the other students. She seems so normal compared to the others. I mean this big guy's got green skin, there's a giant turtle, a bird, this redhead is burning things, this-"

"Hey, this is Pichu's class!" the driver interrupted.

**Truth Bullet #17 All the pictures of Pichu's class have a blonde girl circled in it.**

I closed the box and noticed there was a bit of blood on it. A broken nail covered in blood was next to the box. It's definitely a human nail, someone must have been here before us. I wonder if this narrows down the suspects to only humans.

**Truth Bullet #18 Someone seems to have broken their nail in the archive.**

* * *

I took the box back to my room and heard the beautiful announcement I know and love.

***Ding Dong Ding Dong***

" **Yeah, I'm bored… Everyone head to the red door in the first floor of the school area. It's time for the firs-I mean third class trial."**

I headed towards the trial site while wondering where the others had investigated. It's kind of weird that I didn't see anyone else besides Kirby and Captain Falcon while investigating. I hope the others found useful clues.

Once I arrived, I noticed everyone was silent. Usually we all accuse each other but now we have no 'obvious' killer. No one here had a motive to kill Pikachu. He got along with everyone. So why did he get killed?

Sighing, I stepped into the elevator. Once everyone entered, the doors shut and the elevator started shaking. The shaking that was once the most disturbing feeling ever now felt familiar. Even the tension in the atmosphere felt familiar. I really hated how everything here was starting to feel normal…

When the doors opened, I noticed the trial ground had changed. It looked like a tropical jungle with lots of stacks of bananas everywhere. What kind of cruel joke was this?

"No need to praise me, boys and girls. I know we did a fantastic job," Master Hand giggled.

"We?" Zelda asked.

"Me and Monokuma, of course!"

"It's Monokuma and I, dumbass," Cloud corrected.

"Shut up! I'm the one in charge here. If I say it's me and Monokuma, it's me and Monokuma!"

"Master Hand, stop teaching everyone wrong things! How can you call yourself a principal?" the princess yelled angrily.

"She's-a right," Mario added.

"Oh, shut up, Italian plumber who never does any plumbing and is still fat despite doing sports."

"That's so mean!" Jigglypuff cried.

"Upupupupupu!"

"Shut up, Monokuma!" everyone, including Master Hand, yelled.

And with that, everyone took their usual spots and mentally prepared themselves for the trial. A trial that could have easily been avoided if only I had arrived in time. I wanted to cry but I knew Pikachu wouldn't want that. I had to solve this case for his, no, everyone's sake. The familiar feeling of contemplating about life and death filled my thoughts once more. I was prepared to jump into this fight between life and death once more. I had to make sure the killer didn't get away with murder. I had to make sure to keep the amount of deaths as small as possible. I needed to solve this case so that the innocent ones could live to see another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to get the trial done this week since it's vacations.  
> Thanks for reading and see you next chapter.


	11. Chapter 3 - Stand Tall - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link must solve the mystery behind Pikachu's death or else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was faster than expected.

_The trial's about to begin… I can't let the killer get away with killing Pikachu._

"Let's start with an explanation of the class trial," Monokuma started, "During the trial you will present arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished and you will continue living your normal life here. But if you pick wrong, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be allowed to graduate."

"Do you have to say that every time we start a trial?" Samus complained.

"Of course but I can't tell you why!"

"Never mind, let's just start this trial," the bounty hunter sighed.

"I think we should talk about the motive behind Pikachu's death," Ness suggested.

"The motive this time was money," Jigglypuff recalled, "I guess this means that someone greedy must have killed him."

"How are we supposed to know who's greedy or not?"

"W-we don't-a need to know," Luigi answered, "I-I-a think Pikachu k-killed himself. N-no one-a here would-a kill for money."

"That makes-a sense. But if it's-a suicide who will Master Hand execute?"

"I'll choose randomly, Mario. Too bad there's no lucky student to make this more interesting…"

"But how are sure that this is suicide? Why would Pikachu kill himself?" Bayonetta wondered.

"Obviously so that no one would kill for the money," Ness replied.

_Actually there's a reason why Pikachu couldn't have committed suicide._

"Pikachu left a note in his room," I said.

"His suicide note?" Jigglypuff asked.

"No, he said he thought he was being followed by someone at night."

"That's true and his first sentence said that if we were reading it, he was probably dead," Kirby added.

"But what if Master Hand faked that note?" Zelda argued.

_I doubt it but there's other evidence._

"The Master File said that Pikachu had broken bones and injuries before his death. If he wanted to commit suicide he wouldn't go through all the trouble to break his bones."

"But why are his bones broken?"

"His killer probably had a fight with him," Jigglypuff muttered.

"I guess that explains the hammer at the crime scene," Cloud commented.

"But isn't it weird how the killer didn't just use the hammer to bash Pikachu to death? They would have left much less evidence if they didn't tie him up."

"I guess this means the killer had some weird priorities or was stupid."

"Probably stupid," the pink puff smiled creepily, "This means any one who's smart is definitely not the killer which proves that I'm innocent!"

"That is-a pretty suspicious…" Mario whispered to Luigi.

"Y-you're-a right…"

"How can you-a prove your innocence?"

"Uh, I'm not stupid so I can't be the killer."

_That's a pretty bad argument. Even so, I don't think Jigglypuff is the killer. She wouldn't be able to tie up Pikachu or hit him hard enough with a hammer to break his bones._

"Guys, I don't think accusing others will be effective. We should talk about Pikachu's note."

"Oh yeah! Pikachu was doing research on Hope's Peak," Captain Falcon remembered, "He went to the archive every night."

"Maybe the killer followed him into the archive and found his research," Bayonetta hypothesized.

"But is there any evidence someone besides Pikachu went in there?" Ness asked.

_The last piece of evidence I found proved someone else was in the archive before Kirby, Captain Falcon and I._

"There is. When I went to check out the archive with Kirby and Captain Falcon, I found a broken nail with some blood on it. I'm not sure who the blood or the nail belongs to, though."

"So what we know is that Pikachu was doing research about Hope's Peak, someone was following him and looked at his research and then he got killed after a fight," Zelda summarized, "But why did he end up in the art room?"

"He only went to the library according to his note," Samus noted.

_He definitely went somewhere else._

"No, that's not it. Luigi said he went out for dinner and breakfast, isn't that right, Luigi?"

"Y-yes, he-a did."

"We also found a lot of evidence in the cafeteria," Kirby recalled.

"There was food in the trash can but it hadn't been touched. And there was a notepad. And there was a photo of Pichu. And the broken plate was still there," Captain Falcon listed.

"Who's Pichu?" Samus asked.

"He's Pikachu's little brother," I explained, "Apparently he attended Hope's Peak one year before us. There were a few photos of him and his class in the archive."

"And this blonde girl was always circled but we don't know why," Kirby mentioned.

"What did she-a look like?"

"Her hair reached her back, her eyes were blue and she was wearing a school uniform. She was among the only ones to wear one."

"Kids these days always feel the need to rebel," Bayonetta sighed.

"That could-a be anyone! Heck, for all we-a know Cloud has a secret identity as-a class sixty-three's Ultimate Cross-a-dresser."

"W-what!?"

"Guys, we're getting off topic. We should talk about the cafeteria not Cloud's secret life as the Ultimate Cross-dresser," Zelda ordered.

"The food hadn't been touched and we found food in Pikachu's room. So I think Pikachu ate his food in his room and not the cafeteria," I said.

"I just had an idea!" Jigglypuff gasped, "Maybe the killer set up the cafeteria to make it look like Pikachu had been ambushed there. That would explain why there was a plate on the floor this morning and why the food hadn't been touched."

"Jigglypuff, you're totally right. There also wasn't any evidence of him being in the cafeteria. I think this confirms that the person who went into the archive was the killer. There wouldn't be any way for them to get a picture of Pichu and Pikachu's notepad otherwise."

"This means the killer had to have been a human. So there's no way Kirby or I could be the killers."

"But how did Pikachu get food if he never went into the cafeteria?" Ness asked.

"I think Luigi can explain that."

"Wait, he killed Pikachu?"

"N-no! P-pikachu had come to-a ask me, if I could-a make him some-a food during the night. He told me not to-a tell anyone. I-I'm-a sorry…"

"Did you know that he was going to the archive?"

"No… I thought he was-a depressed and-a scared."

"Hey, I know this is kinda off topic but… How did the killer lock the art room?" Bayonetta said.

"With a key, how else?"

_No, the killer used something else._

"No, that's wrong!" I yelled, "The door had some glue on it, the killer must have put it on the door before exiting."

"That would explain the empty super glue bottle I found," Zelda added.

"The killer must have done that to prevent Pikachu from escaping," Captain Falcon laughed nervously.

_But what would be the point?_

"That's impossible. The killer had tied up Pikachu tightly, there's no way he could escape. I think the killer must have done that to prevent someone from entering."

"That makes sense. Pikachu was still alive when we arrived. The killer was probably unsure about when we would find Pikachu. If we were unable to open the door, there would be enough time for Pikachu to suffocate." Bayonetta explained.

"But doesn't suffocation kill quickly?" Ness asked.

"Not if it's only partial. Didn't anyone take a look at how the tape was placed? The killer obviously didn't know how to properly suffocate someone." Cloud sighed.

"But wasn't there a tight cable around Pikachu's neck?"

"After I found the super glue bottle, I checked the cable. It was actually glued onto the statue but it wasn't tight enough to kill him," Zelda answered.

"So the reason the cable couldn't be untied was because it was stuck to the statue with super glue… The killer really was an idiot," Jigglypuff smirked.

"Moving on. Now that we know how Pikachu died, how do we find out who the killer is?"

_I'm sure the answer lies in the photos._

"Hey, Master Hand."

"What is it now, Link?"

"Could you show everyone the picture of class sixty-three?"

"Fine. Monokuma!"

Monokuma appeared and brought a screen with him. He turned it on and a photo appeared.

"Look! That guy got pushed out of the photo!" Zelda giggled.

"I think I know some of them, they seem familiar for some reason," Cloud said.

"Aw, Pichu is so cute!" Jigglypuff smiled.

"Why does that boy have green skin?" Samus asked.

"Turtles can play-a golf?" Mario gasped.

"That boy is trying to light everything on fire!" Ness screamed.

"The one next to the girl who pushed the other guy?" Bayonetta responed.

"I'd like to-a meet them," Luigi stuttered.

"Why does everyone have such weird priorities?" Kirby yelled angrily.

I shrugged and he sighed. He jumped out of his seat and pointed at the blonde girl that was circled.

"She's the one we should be focusing on!"

"Mamma mia!" Mario and Luigi gasped simultaneously.

"That's princess-a Toadstool!" Luigi said.

"I didn't know she-a went to Hope's-a Peak."

"But how does this get us-a closer to solving this-a case?"

"Maybe the killer interrogated Pikachu to know more about her?" Ness suggested.

"I guess our suspects have been narrowed down to one! Luigi is the only one who knew about Pikachu going out at night and he knows Toadstool. So he's obviously the killer!" Jigglypuff concluded.

"No, it can't be Luigi! He wouldn't hurt a fly. He'd never kill for money."

"Ness has a point. Luigi doesn't have any motive to kill Pikachu." Cloud added.

"But he could be faking his persona. He did lie to us earlier," Zelda reminded everyone.

"Upupupupu!"

"My brother would never kill his-a friend!"

"Upupupupu!"

"Maybe you don't know your brother as well as you think you do." Samus sighed.

"Upupupupu!"

"What are you laughing about?" I asked Monokuma.

"No one can agree! It's time for the first ever debate scrum! Everyone who thinks Luigi is the killer goes to the right and everyone who thinks he isn't goes to the left."

Without any real choice, I made my way to the left side of the court room with Mario, Luigi, Cloud, Ness and Kirby. Jigglypuff, Zelda, Samus, Bayonetta and Captain Falcon went to the right. Monokuma then proceeded to explain to us how the debate scrum would work. The right side would say their arguments and the left side would have to refute them if possible.

"All right! Jiggles, you're up!"

"Jiggles!?" she shrieked, "Uh, Luigi knows Toadstool. So he definitely killed Pikachu!"

"Mario also knows her!" Kirby yelled, "And maybe someone else here knows her too."

"Luigi knew that Pikachu was going out at night. He could easily lie about not knowing what Pikachu was doing," Samus said.

"But maybe the killer knew that Luigi knew about Pikachu and used it to their advantage," Ness replied.

"What if this is all part of Luigi's plan?" Zelda asked.

"If it was, he would have tried to convince us that Pikachu committed suicide or that someone else was the killer," Cloud answered.

"But he could be using this to his advantage. Reverse psychology is a thing," Bayonetta smiled.

"Did you ever consider that-a the killer might be-a purposely setting up-a Luigi?" Mario grunted.

"There's nothing that disproves him being the killer!" Captain Falcon claimed.

_There must be something… I got it!_

"The broken nail! There's nothing that proves it belongs to Luigi!"

"H-he's-a right! All of my nails are in-a perfect condition."

Luigi stepped forward and showed everyone his nails.

"N-no way! If Luigi's not the killer then who is?" Jigglypuff gasped.

_There's only one person who could be the killer. The only person with a motive to kill for princess Toadstool._

"Mario's the killer."

"What? But my big-a brother would never kill-a anyone!"

"Luigi's-a right, I would never-a kill anyone."

"Mario, don't make this any harder…"

"I'm not-a making it any harder! How do I-a know you're not-a the killer? You're-a using your status as the Ultimate Puzzle-a Solver to make everyone believe-a you!"

"You're the only one besides Luigi to-"

"What does that have to do with-a anything? The killer could have just-a randomly circled-a Toadstool!"

"You told me about her and how she-"

"Whatever! You're just-a using what you-a know so that you can-a get away with-a murder!"

"You're the one who said the killer could be setting-"

"Blah blah blah. Stop-a rambling!"

"Just listen to what I have to say!"

"No! You're-a the killer!"

"I'll show you my nails and you'll show me yours."

"I don't need to show you-a anything!"

"Why did you cut yourself in the morning? Was it so that you could have an excuse to have a broken nail? If you're really not the killer you should have no problem showing everyone your nails!"

"..."

"It can't-a be. M-mario… Y-you killed Pikachu?" Luigi cried.

"Link, you should review the case," Zelda suggested.

"After Ryu's death, Pikachu was only going out for breakfast and dinner. At least that's what he made us believe. He was actually going to the archive to study Hope's Peak and had asked Luigi to make him food every night.

However, one day, Pikachu thought he was being followed by someone. This 'someone' turned out the be his future killer. Pikachu started to suspect that he was going to get killed. To help us, he wrote a note about his suspicions. And as it turned out, the killer had visited the archive and seen princess Toadstool circled for some reason.

One night, Pikachu went to the archive where he was ambushed by the killer. The killer thought with Pikachu and used the hammer to break his bones. Afterwards, they took Pikachu to the art room and tied him up with a cable. The killer got some super glue to stick the cable to the statue to prevent Pikachu from escaping. They covered Pikachu's mouth and nose with some tape in order to suffocate him. But due to their inexperience, they weren't sure of how long it would take him to die. To prevent anyone from entering too early, they put some glue on the door before throwing the glue somewhere else and locking the door from the outside.

The killer returned to the archive to take one of Pikachu's notepads and a photo of Pichu. But as they left the archive, their nail broke, probably because of their fight. The killer went to the cafeteria, broke a plate and made some food in order to make it seem like Pikachu had been ambushed in there. They then threw the food away along with the notepad and the photo.

The killer then got Luigi and went to the kitchen pretending nothing had happened. All that was left for the killer to do was to 'accidentally' cut themselves in case the nail was somehow brought up in the trial. After that, the killer waited for Pikachu to be discovered."

_Guess this is it._

"Mario, you've lost."

"Yes… Yes, I-a have…"

"Upupupu! It's time to vote!"

I pulled my lever and voted for Mario.

"You guys are correct!" Master Hand laughed.

"M-Mario, why did you-a kill-a Pikachu?"

"He was an easy-a target. If I could-a have all that-a money… A-Toadstool wouldn't-a reject me."

"But why bother doing all that you did?" I asked.

"I was-a hoping-a Pikachu could-a tell me something but all he-a said was that she was the first one."

"The first one?"

"That's all he-a said. He wouldn't tell me anything-a else."

"Was the notepad you threw important?" Kirby asked.

"I don't-a know. All I-a saw were-a the numbers fifteen, sixty-three and-a despair."

"Upupupu! Don't spoil the fun! It's time for you know what!"

"It's punishment time!"

"I'm-a sorry, guys."

* * *

Mario appears in a sewer. The sewer is full of obstacles, coins and small Monokumas. A Monokuma holding a panel runs towards Mario. The panel shows images of Mario touching the Monokumas and coins. Another Monokuma jumps on top of it and crushes it with a coffin. Master Hand enters the scene and starts a timer.

**Don't. Touch. Anything.**

Mario starts running through the sewer avoiding the coins and Monokumas. He jumps from platform to platform while more Monokumas and coins appear. Mario starts to freak out and barely manages his jumps. He somehow makes it past all the obstacles and sees a light. A glimmer of hope shines in his eyes as he runs towards it. He sees a beautiful castle surrounded by a beautiful scenery. A beautiful smiling princess reaches her hand towards him and Mario places his hand on hers and smiles. Suddenly the princess's smile changes and a Monokuma dressed as a mushroom appears with a panel reading "I'm sorry but your princess is in another castle". Mario's expression turns into one of despair as he notices that he is actually touching a Monokuma. The castle crumbles and is engulfed by flames. Mario tries to run away but the flames catch up. All Mario can do is scream in agony as his body is consumed by the fire.

* * *

It's over… Mario's over… I can't sympathize with him at all. He killed for the sake of money and impressing a girl. But he was still one of us. If we had never been placed in this situation, everyone would still be alive.

"Oh, jeez," Master Hand sighed, "It appears someone couldn't consider other people's feelings. But I guess it's true. Love makes you do crazy things."

"Don't say that!" Zelda yelled, "That's not true. Hatred makes you do crazy things. Just like you!"

"Are you calling me crazy?"

"So what if she is? She's right and you know it!" Jigglypuff answered.

"You kids are so delusional. You're supposed to represent hope but someone always ends up killing in despair. Anyway, you bastards can go back to enjoying your school life!"

Master Hand and Monokuma then disappeared leaving us alone in the court room. The room was silent and everyone left.

* * *

I went back to my room after having dinner and decided to read Pikachu's notes.

**The boy's bathroom on the second floor has no security camera in it. There's a hidden room behind the utility closet.**

Huh? I wonder what's inside that room. I should hurry, it's probably going to be night time pretty soon.

* * *

I quickly made my way to the bathroom and looked around to make sure no one saw me. I went in and found the utility closet. I opened it but there wasn't anything out of place. Confused, I tried touching the wall to check for hidden buttons. As I pressed my hand against the wall, I fell. Once I got up, I noticed I was in a different room.

"So this must be it."

The room was pretty simple. The walls were gray and some pipes were visible. A desk stood in the middle of the room with a chair in front of it. Behind the desk, there was a bookshelf. The floor was dusty and papers were scattered all over it.

I walked towards the bookshelf and saw many dusty files. Most of them were graduation folders ranging from the first class ever up to the sixty-second. However one folder caught my eye. It wasn't covered in dust like all the other ones.

"Hope's Peak Academy's active student roster? Someone must have read this recently. I should take a look at it."

I grabbed the folder but before I even got the chance of opening it, I saw a piece of paper fall out. I picked it up and read it out loud.

"'We must not leave this place.' That's weird. It would make sense if it said 'we can't leave this place'. Why would someone right this? Why am I feeling some déjà-vu here?"

We must not leave this place… It rings a bell for some reason. Where have I heard this before?

I suddenly felt a strange presence behind me. But before I had the chance to turn around, everything went black.

* * *

I woke up not knowing what time it was. I didn't really understand what had happened. The only thing I understood was the pain on the back of my head. I got up and noticed that the bookshelf had been completely emptied. I checked the desk's drawers but they were devoid of anything. Only the papers on the floor remained. I picked them up but they only contained information about our class that I already knew. I sighed as I felt pain going through out all of my body.

I went down to the first floor and started filling dizzy. My vision was blurry and I was about to collapse when I heard some weird noises. I walked to the source of the noises and found myself in front of the gym's door. It was open and I took a quick peek. Master Hand and Monokuma were having a strange conversation.

"You're getting too attached!"

"Upupupu!"

"Get serious! You're the one who came up with this."

"Upupupu! It's better if I get attached."

"I guess that's true. Seeing you cry over your classmates' deaths really is rewarding."

"..."

"What? Not laughing anymore? Is the despair too much for you to handle?"

"..."

"I always knew you were too young for this. You should let me take full control. I shouldn't be following your orders."

"But you do."

"Yeah, I do! It's so despair inducing to be ordered around by some stupid brat like you. I'm an adult yet I'm letting a stupid teenager order me around. I'd kill you right now if you didn't bring such despair upon me."

"..."

"Answer me you stupid brat!"

"..."

"..."

"Upupupu…"

"Huh?"

"Upupupu!"

"Hey, what are you laughing about?"

"Upupupu! Hahaha!"

"What's so funny?"

"Hahaha! What kind of teacher does this to their students? You're so evil! Haha!"

"Evil? You're one to talk. You drove so many people to kill themselves, turned a whole class into murderers, forced another one into isolation and brought the apocalypse. Now you're forcing your classmates to kill each other. How can you live with this?"

"Hahaha! I can't. It's so despairing! I ended the world as we know it. Hahahahaha!"

What!? The apocalypse? There are two masterminds and one of them is a teacher? Is someone lying about their age or is someone else in here with us? The mastermind turned a whole class into murderers? They brought the apocalypse? Does this mean that… There's nothing in the outside world? The world has… Ended?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always feel like the trial is short when I write but then I notice there are more words than before.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter :)


	12. Chapter 4 - Smashed Apologies - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new floor has been opened! Link and the gang enjoy their time until a new unique motive is given out by Master Hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished it! This took so long and school didn't help.

Yoshi was killed by Fox…

Fox got executed…

Donkey Kong was killed by Ryu…

Ryu got executed…

Pikachu was killed by Mario…

Mario got executed…

We started out as sixteen students and now we're only ten. If things continue to go this way, we'll all be dead. There's no way to stop this killing game by myself, but I don't know if I should tell the others about last night. It might make everything worse. This game is really taking its toll on everyone. I'm surprised I'm still able to think straight.

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

It's weird being awake before the announcement. I should go to the cafeteria and meet up with the others.

* * *

It was silent in the cafeteria. I sat at the table next to Zelda and ate some cereal undisturbed.

"Hey, I have an idea! Food makes people happy, so we should eat a lot. Maybe we can organize a banquet?" Kirby suggested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"But every time we do something together someone dies," Ness replied.

"I bet that is the mastermind's doing! Think about it, if someone dies every time we do something together, we start doubting everyone. That is what the mastermind wants," Jiggylpuff explained.

"I think you have a valid point. Maybe we should organize a banquet… But first, we need to explore the new floor," Zelda said.

* * *

After breakfast, everyone went up to the fourth floor. Ness and Zelda decided to come with me to explore and we entered a classroom at the end of the right corridor. The blackboard was covered in drawings of Monokuma. After finding nothing, we checked the classroom next door and found ourselves empty-handed again.

We decided to enter another room. The first thing I noticed was the strong smell of chemicals. Ness pointed towards a big cupboard full of small bottles.

"Look, they have medicines and vitamins," he yelled.

"We could use some vitamin D. Who knows how long we haven't seen the sun," Zelda smiled.

"There are lots of poisonous substances in here, we should be careful."

I took a closer look at the bottles and noticed they were all disorganized. While Zelda and Ness checked out the equipment, I organized the bottles and put the poisons at the back of the highest shelf that I could reach with the help of a chair. Sometimes I wish shortness didn't run in my family, I'm among the tallest members but still…

The three of us left the laboratory and saw a blue door. Zelda tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. A sign near the door said it was the data processing room. I couldn't help but feel something important was in there.

We walked towards a large door and arrived in a concert hall. The stage had a large piano in front of red curtains. I went backstage to take a look and found a lot of instruments. There didn't appear to be any cameras here either. Maybe this place could be used as a secret base of some sort.

After a few minutes of investigation, we left and saw the principal's office. Ness tried opening the door but it was locked. Of course, that room probably had all the answers to our current situation. The mastermind must be really smart.

Disappointed, we made our way to the last room on the floor. It was the faculty room. It was full of tables with flowers. Why would there be flowers on top of the tables? I looked down at the floor and noticed a photo. Yoshi, Mario and Pikachu were in it and they appeared to be having fun. The location appeared to be the same as the photo with Ryu, Fox and DK. Did Mario and Pikachu know each other before Hope's Peak? No… That can't be it, they didn't appear to know each other that well.

I would've continued asking myself questions if Master Hand hadn't suddenly appeared unannounced.

"No, it can't be… This must be fake…"

"Sorry, Link. It's real. Now, be a good student and hand me the picture," Master Hand ordered as he snatched the photo from my hands. What a jerk.

"What do you mean it's real?"

"That it's real. For an Ultimate Puzzle Solver, you sure are dumb."

"Hey, that is extremely rude," Princess Zelda said as she butted into our conversation.

"That is extremely rude!" Master Hand mocked, "I would've said something really funny but it is not my line. Hey, maybe Link can say it! You know the line, the one your… Cousin, I think, always says."

"Which one? I've got quite a lot and they're all named Link," I replied annoyed.

"You know the one with the annoying catchphrase."

Oh, god no.

* * *

A few years back, my family had a large family meeting at Twilight's house. All of my cousins were there, including some I had never met. I was playing some video games with Twilight when my mother called me to introduce me to one of my cousins. He had dark brown hair and wore green clothes, he didn't appear to be anything special. I let him play video games with Twilight and I and we had some fun.

I later left to go pick up Toon, but when I came back something horrible happened: the new cousin had a catchphrase and he wouldn't stop saying it. He boasted about some girl he liked and called her Princess. Twilight didn't seem to mind at first whereas Toon instantly hated him and called him Dick. After that, we nicknamed our annoying cousin Dick.

To escape his annoying aura, Toon, Twilight and I went for a walk in the forest near Ordon Village. Twilight ended up ranting for an hour about how annoying Dick was and how his stupid catchphrase rubbed off on him.

Ever since that event, we avoid Dick as much as possible.

* * *

"Let's just leave and report our findings to the others," I said walking out of the room. I heard Master Hand complain but paid it no mind.

* * *

Back at the cafeteria everyone reported their findings. Kirby mentioned breaking the doors to go into the principal's office was a good idea but Monokuma said that anyone who breaks a door will be killed.

"Hey, guys. We found a photo again," I started, "Yoshi, Mario and Pikachu were in it."

"Why does Master Hand keep leaving them?" Jigglypuff asked.

"They're probably fakes in order to confuse us," Zelda answered.

"But why would he get all defensive about them. If they were fake wouldn't he let us keep them?" I said.

"So if we assume they're real, this means that the people who are currently dead knew each other before Hope's Peak," Cloud deduced.

"Maybe they're still alive or something," Ness suggested.

"If we try hard enough we might remember meeting each other before…" Zelda muttered.

"I've been trying this whole time and nothing. Not a single memory has come back. I can't even remember anything that happened last year. I don't even know what I did for summer break," Kirby complained.

"That's weird, I remember my whole summer break just fine," Captain Falcon responded.

I tried remembering my summer vacations but my memories seemed to be scattered. I remembered having guests but I couldn't remember who… I also remembered going to to visit Toon with someone but I can't remember what we did… This is strange. Does the mastermind have some sort of tool that can remove specific memories?

"Maybe we could write down what we remember and don't remember, if we compare our memories we might find a link," I suggested.

"That's a great pun, I mean idea," Zelda smiled at me, "Since you're the Ultimate Puzzle Solver, you'll definitely find the answer!"

I felt myself blush as she told me that. We all agreed to meet up at dinner time to compare our memories.

* * *

I went to my room and wrote down what I remembered. Once I was done, I decided to read Pikachu's notes to see if he had written down anything about his memories.

He didn't think he had any memory problems besides remembering Pichu's classmates' name. Makes sense in a way, the mastermind wouldn't want anyone knowing about other students.

I continued reading his notes and found myself in a paragraph about some terrible incident. It was named The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. It apparently happened one year ago and forced Hope's Peak to close down. But that doesn't make sense. Pichu started going to Hope's Peak one year ago. Could this event be the reason some of us lost our memories?

* * *

I rushed to the cafeteria and saw Luigi cooking. He was making spaghetti for all of us. He really is too pure for this world…

"So… How are you doing?" I asked in an awkward attempt to start a conversation.

"I could be-a better. I am really-a tired of all these-a losses. Why must this happen to-a me?"

"I don't know… I wish there was a way to prevent all these unnecessary deaths."

"Same… But I-a know I must-a move on. Mario wouldn't want me to be-a sad all-a the time. It's just so-a hard in this-a situation."

Even after what Mario did to Pikachu, Luigi still cares for his brother. He really is befitting of his Ultimate Little Brother title.

"Hey-a, Link. How do you move on so-a fast? You don't-a seem to be afraid of-a anything."

"Uh… I guess it's a family trait. We're all pretty courageous."

"You and your-a family must be-a close."

"We are, all though I can't remember much of them from summer break."

"Y-you can't? The mastermind is so-a cruel. Messing with everyone's-a memories. Usually I-a go once a month with-a Mario to the Toadstool's-a castle but I can't-a remember a single-a time we-a went last year."

"Pikachu wrote that he couldn't remember any of Pichu's classmates' names."

"The only one I-a recognized was-a Princess-a Toadstool."

"We really need to get to the bottom of this. We're not gonna let the mastermind win."

"Y-yeah! I'm going to-a make the best-a spaghetti to get everyone-a pumped up!"

Luigi ended up teaching me how to make spaghetti alla bolognese. It was so fun that I almost forgot about all the terrible things happening lately.

Once we were finished, we waited for the others to arrive.

* * *

After dinner, everyone compared their memories. It seemed we all had one thing in common: we couldn't remember much about anyone from Hope's Peak. It seemed this amnesia affected some more than others.

"I think this memory erasing thing must have had some side effects," Zelda speculated.

"Probably, Pikachu still remembered all of his family yet I can't remember mine very well," I added, "Maybe the mastermind erased our memories of people who had contacts in Hope's Peak."

"Did any of your-a cousins know anyone from-a Hope's Peak?" Luigi asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe the guests I had over summer break did. Forgetting about my family could have been a side effect."

"My memory loss is-a easy to explain, Princess-a Toadstool was in-a Hope's Peak."

"Lucky you. I barely remember a thing. My last memory was helping my dad fix his 3DS three years ago," Kirby pouted.

"Maybe someone you knew well had something to do with Hope's Peak," Bayonneta smiled.

"Maybe… I don't think it could be my parents though. My dad makes video games and my mom is a cook. I also don't have any siblings, maybe I made a friend who went to Hope's Peak…"

"Wait, Kirby didn't you tell me you once had an eating competition with Hope's Peak students?" I asked.

"You're right! Maybe that's why I don't remember anything. If I met an entire class, the mastermind wouldn't want me to remember."

"Hey!" Jigglypuff screamed, "Why don't we build a machine to get our memories back?"

"Great idea! If someone gives me instructions, I can build it. I used to build stuff all the time when I was small."

"But where are we going to get the instructions from?" Cloud asked.

"We'll find them in the library if we're lucky," Jigglypuff giggled, "Too bad we don't have an Ultimate Lucky Student to help us find them."

* * *

After about an hour of pointless discussions, I finally returned to my room and went into deep thought mode. Who was the mastermind? No, who are the two masterminds? Why did they cause the end of the world? Nothing makes sense anymore. I really hope this case gets solved soon.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

All I can do now is rest. I need to be in shape for tomorrow.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I hate this more than my old alarm clock…

* * *

The morning wasn't anything special. I just had breakfast and returned to my room. I heard a knock on my door and went to open it. Bayonetta smiled and told me we should hang out in the recreational room.

We ended up playing some board games and I beat her every time. She didn't seem to mind losing that much and told me she had fun.

"You know, Link. I'd love it if everyone would make it out alive, but reason tells me that won't happen…"

"It's not impossible."

"Sometimes I wish this was just a bad nightmare. But most of my dreams involve me killing angels and demons."

"Those seem like some pretty cool dreams."

"Yeah, they are. What kind of dreams do you have, Link?"

"Nothing that special. Sometimes I dream that I'm a hero saving the world from evil. Once, I dreamed that one of my cousins was actually my descendant and the only physical proof that I had gotten laid." I said with a straight face making Bayonetta laugh. Her laugh in turn made me laugh and we spent ten minutes cracking jokes and losing our breath.

"Sometimes I forget that it's still possible to laugh given our situation," Bayonetta started.

"Yeah," I added, "I really miss my friends and family, I hope we manage to get out."

"Same here. The whole Umbra clan must be worried about me."

"Umbra clan?"

"That's my family. We specialize in witch craft. Does you family specialize in anything?"

"I guess we're pretty good at breaking pots and mowing the lawn."

"That's quite unique and unexpected. Must be fun."

"Yeah, the best part is finding money in the pots we break."

"Money? Your family sure seems quirky. I think I'm going to go have lunch now. All though, I am more excited for supper, I wonder what Luigi will make."

* * *

After lunch, I decided to go to the library to see if there was anything interesting to read. I saw Ness and we had a chat.

"What are you reading, Ness?"

"It's a book about baseball. I know I'm the Ultimate Psychic but I've always wanted to be a baseball player."

"Would you be able to use your psychic powers while playing?"

"Yeah, probably. All though, it would ruin the fun and it'd be cheating."

"I see your point. It must be useful to be able to use telekinesis."

"It is. I'm pretty short, so I can't reach many things. Being psychic really has it perks."

"I'm glad it makes life easier for you. I wish I had the power to grow taller. Shortness runs in the family."

"Huh? But you're not that short. Zelda's shorter than you and she seems to be quite happy."

"Well, I am among the taller members of my family. I guess not being tall helps with some things."

"Yeah! You don't hit your head on the roof!"

"That is true. I wonder why half our class is so tall."

"Same here. Only Jigglypuff, Pikachu and Kirby are smaller than me and they're not even humans like me."

"I don't even know how they manage to go buy groceries. The shelves must be quite big for them."

"I just make everything float around to see what's best. It's pretty fun but people tend to stare. Luckily everyone in my neighborhood is now used to me."

"It must be fun to go grocery shopping with you."

"It is! We should go see what Luigi is making for dinner."

* * *

The two of us went to the kitchen to watch Luigi make us some risotto. He was a really great cook and made us authentic Italian meals. If I was in charge of choosing Ultimate titles, I'd name him the Ultimate Cook.

Everyone ate dinner happily. We had some random conversations and then headed back to our own rooms.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

I jumped into my bed and fell asleep tired of my current situation.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I was feeling more refreshed than usual and decided to eat a nice big breakfast. Kirby was sitting all by himself, so I joined him. We talked a bit and agreed to hang out for the morning.

* * *

We went to the music room and messed around with the instruments. Kirby was jumping on top of the piano's keyboard making lots of noise. I found a broken recording machine and Kirby fixed it. We recorded ourselves playing some songs badly and laughed at the horrible sound we had created.

"I'm so glad you were able to fix that machine," I told Kirby.

"I'm glad you found the machine. It's so old, why do they still keep it?"

"I don't know. Maybe the school was trying to be cool by using old technology or something like that."

"I think Jigglypuff would love this. Remind me to give it to her when we go down for lunch."

"Sure thing, pal."

"Man, I love having fun. Just wish we didn't have to be stuck in the same place everyday."

"I feel you. At least a new floor gets unlocked every time we finish a trial."

"Yeah and many weird things always happen afterwards."

"Not as weird as you."

"True, true. I mean, what even am I? What the heck is a kirby? The documentaries were completely useless. This school needs to get up to date. I would pay the school all of your money to get better equipment."

"I don't think you'd be able to afford anything better."

"I guess the food makes up for it."

"I wonder who cooked in the school before. For all we know the cooks were terrible and the food sucked."

"Wouldn't be shocked. Cafeteria food's the worst."

"I love how we're in a shit situation and we're talking about how much cafeteria food sucks."

"That's what friends are for! To talk shit about cafeteria food."

* * *

After messing around some more, Kirby went to give Jigglypuff the recording device and I went to eat lunch. I returned to my room and heard a knock on the door. It was Samus. She asked if I wanted to spend some time with her. We ended up going to the faculty room.

We looked around and found many notes written by the teachers. Some were really funny and others were plain weird. We even managed to find the diary of one of the teachers all though some pages had been torn out.

"I swear to God, if I have to deal with that trio of brats again, I will sue them," Samus read out loud imitating an old man's voice.

"Why did he not quit his job if he hated the students so much?"

"The job probably brought in a lot of money. I'm assuming he's some old fat man or something. I don't know why but it just fits very well."

"I agree!" Monokuma laughed popping out of nowhere.

"Let's leave," the blonde girl said while glaring at the bear.

"Oh, no! Don't go! I just wanted to join in the fun."

"I thought your idea of fun was despair and death," I replied.

The bear faked tears and left while moaning about how villains can have fun without death and despair. Samus and I continued making fun of the teacher and his diary.

"Imagine if this crap never happened and we had to go to class with this guy as our teacher," the bounty hunter joked.

"I wonder who he'd hate the most."

"I'm betting it would be Captain Falcon, he's a huge idiot."

"I guess. He is a bit obnoxious but he's a pretty nice person once you get past that."

"Maybe…"

"In the end, I think the teacher would end up hating the whole class."

"Probably. I could never do something I hate just for the money. That guy must be insane."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you become a bounty hunter?"

"To save people and make the world a better place. I guess it also pays the bills, but that's more of a bonus. I'm happy knowing that people are saved thanks to my actions. Once we are free from this rotten school, I'll make saving people my top priority."

"Sounds like a good plan to me!"

* * *

While walking back to the dormitory with Samus, a sudden announcement by Master Hand occurred.

" **Everyone in the gym!"**

Samus and I made our ways to the gym. Once everyone had arrived, Master Hand appeared.

"Time for the new motive!"

"Why can't you just stop with these motives? No one is going to kill anyone anymore!" Zelda yelled.

"Yeah," Ness agreed, "We're not falling for any of your tricks anymore."

"Say whatever you want, you all know the true outcome anyways. Monokuma! Bring the motive!"

Monokuma ran into the gym holding a cardboard box. He took out some envelopes and gave one to everyone. I opened mine and read the letter in it.

**The Mastermind has blond hair.**

**Kirby's lying about not knowing his talent.**

**Class 63 has met the Mastermind.**

What on earth is this supposed to mean? Does the mastermind want me to kill a specific person? But if that were the case, why mention class 63?

I looked around and saw that everyone was as confused as I.

"Upupupu! They don't get it, do they?"

"Shut up, Monkuma! What is the meaning of this? Why does it say that I've killed someone before? And why was the first murder faked? Why are you and Master Hand controlled by different people?" Jigglypuff shouted glaring at the bear.

"It seems as though I'll have to explain to you idiots what the letters mean," Master Hand grunted seemingly annoyed, "There are three statements but only one of them is true. You are free to believe whichever statement you want to believe. However, there's a twist. One of the letters has only truths!"

"Great, you just had to make things easier to understand…" Cloud sighed.

"How do we-a know who has-a the truths?" Luigi asked nervously.

"You have to figure that out for yourselves. Feel free to have one of your successful little meetings," the hand laughed.

"Wait a minute, how come I have five weird phrases?" Samus asked.

"Lucky you! You got the spoilers for the truth!"

"What?"

"I now declare this meeting over!"

And just like that, the meeting ended. I asked everyone if they wanted to have a meeting to compare the statements and everyone agreed to meet in the music room on the next day.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!** **"**

After the annoying announcement, I went back to my room and fell asleep.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

Everyone met up at the cafeteria for breakfast. Luigi had made us some delicious pancakes. Kirby loved them so much that he kept asking for more but Luigi refused and told him he'd get sick if he ate too many.

Once everyone was done eating, we all headed to the music room and went backstage. We decided that everyone was going to read out loud their statements and we'd discuss what seemed true.

"I guess I can start," said Zelda, "The first statement is I'm older than I think. The second one is I'm not really a princess. And the last one is my father is dead. I think that given our situation, the first statement is probably the true one."

"Makes sense," Kirby added, "My first statement is that I'm the Ultimate Copycat. The second one is that I personally know Hope's Peak principal. The last one is I know who the mastermind is. I think the second one would explain my missing memories."

"I think mine also explains the missing memories thing," Cloud announced, "The first statement is that I'm lying about my talent. The second one is I'm related to the mastermind. The third one is I've met everyone in class 63 before."

"Suspiciously interesting," Jigglypuff joked, "My first one is that I've killed someone before. No way that's true. The second one is that the first murder was faked. Yoshi was definitely dead when I saw him, so no way. The last one is that Master Hand and Monokuma are controlled by different people."

"I hope that doesn't mean there is a traitor…" Ness sighed, "My first statement is my powers are fake. The second one is I'm older than I look. The third one is I have a twin brother. I'm guessing the second one is true just like Zelda said, we might be slightly older than what we think."

"H-how-a old are we?" Luigi asked only to for everyone to respond with a shrug, "Um… Someone is-a forcing people to-a kill. Every-a killer killed out of their own-a free will. The mastermind is-a doing all-a the killing. Oh dear, I don't-a know which one is-a true."

"It's okay. There's no way all of yours can be true," Bayonetta smiled, "Mine are the following: the murders are directed by the mastermind, Ness can't read minds and the executions are real."

"Guess I'm last," I stated, "My statements are: the mastermind has blond hair, Kirby's lying about his talent and class 63 has met the mastermind."

* * *

We spent a few hours trying to figure out which statements were true and which ones weren't. In the end, the majority agreed that Bayonetta's statements were the most likely to be true, but I couldn't help but feel something was off. Aren't there two masterminds? It did seem like one was in control, maybe they are the one that the statements are referring to. It could be a trick since no one is supposed to know that there are actually two masterminds. I feel bad for Jigglypuff since the majority didn't believe that Monokuma and Master Hand were controlled by different people… She doesn't seem like the kind to kill someone, I hope I'm right.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong** *

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!** **"**

We spent so long trying to figure the motives out that we didn't see the time fly.

Luigi volunteered to make us dinner since he said he felt that was the only way he'd be useful. I feel so bad for him… He's been through so much… But at the same time, I'm proud of him for attempting to help in his own way.

I ate dinner and went straight to my room. All the thinking had really worn me out. I miss being able to sleep as much as I wanted.

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I woke up feeling like crap. I really hate this place…

I took a shower to try to awaken myself but it didn't really help. I sighed and headed to the cafeteria half-asleep.

Zelda saw me and decided to greet me. She was the last person I wanted seeing me in this worn out state. Unlike my cousins, I was polite, so I let her have breakfast with me and made an effort to have a decent conversation.

When we were done, I noticed that Bayonetta hadn't had breakfast yet. I asked Samus if she had seen the witch and she said no. We immediately decided to go looking for her.

* * *

Samus and Zelda accompanied me and we started by looking around the first floor. Finding no trace of her there, we headed to next floor and to the next one until we reached the fourth floor. It was the only place where Bayonetta could be. We checked all the rooms until only the music hall was left.

When I opened the door a weird smell filled the air. Zelda rushed to the chemistry lab to get us some masks stating that it could be toxic gas. Once the three of us put on the masks and entered the music hall, a horrible scene befell us.

The chairs were a mess and half of them had been broken. The floor was covered in holes made by some acidic liquid. There were blood stains dripping from the piano and on top of it lied Bayonetta's dead body.

" **A body has been discovered! A body has been discovered! The trial will commence soon."**

"S-she's dead?" Zelda stuttered.

"Why? Why does this keep happening?" Samus grunted.

Once again, I mentally prepared myself for the investigation… For the trial… For the death of another classmate… For the never-ending cycle of hope and despair…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The death was the main reason I took forever. I just wasn't satisfied and was going back and forth between characters. In the end, I decided to go with the original plan and kill Bayonetta. :(
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	13. Chapter 4 - Smashed Apologies - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link must investigate to find clues that will lead him to solve Bayonetta's murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be multiple updates this week! Yay!  
> Also, I'm sorry it's a short chapter.

A few minutes after the announcement, everyone gathered in the music room. It was time to investigate Bayonetta's death, so I started by reading the new Master File.

**The victim was Bayonetta Umbra. She died at midnight and was killed with acid. The only injuries she sustained were after her death.**

I headed towards and looked at the corpse. Her skin seemed disfigured due to the acid.

**Truth Bullet #2 Bayonetta seems to have been injured with the acid.**

I managed to somehow ignore the smell of acid and saw a bottle in her hand. I took it and saw 'medicine' written on it.

**Truth Bullet #3 Bayonetta was holding a bottle of medicine.**

I looked around the piano and found a paper on the floor. It appeared to be instructions on how to take the medicine correctly. It specified that a specific kind of cup was needed to take the medicine.

**Truth Bullet #4 Instructions on how to take the medicine were lying on the floor.**

I searched for the cup that Bayonetta had used to take the medicine and eventually found it next to a chair. It appeared to have been used.

**Truth Bullet #5 Bayonetta used the correct cup to drink the medicine.**

On my way out of the music room, I made sure to avoid the puddles of acid on the floor.

**Truth Bullet #6 There are many puddles of acid on the floor.**

* * *

I walked towards the chemistry lab which seemed like the most obvious place to get acid and noticed I was being followed.

"Uh, a-Link?" a shy voice said.

"Yes, Luigi?" I said turning around to see Luigi.

"Well… You-a see… Bayonetta was-a sick and I saw her-a go into the chemistry lab-a yesterday."

"You did?"

"Yes, I-a did. I-a think there might-a be-a something inside-a the chemistry lab that might-a help us."

**Truth Bullet #7 Luigi said that Bayonetta was sick and went into the chemistry lab.**

We entered the lab and started searching for clues. Luigi found an open book listing medicines. Bayonetta must have used this to find what bottle to take.

**Truth Bullet #8 There's a book in the chemistry lab listing medicines.**

I told Luigi that we should check to see if any bottles were missing. We saw that one was indeed missing and concluded it was the one Bayonetta took.

**Truth Bullet #9 A medicine bottle is missing from the chemistry lab.**

Luigi and I were looking around when Captain Falcon came running into the room.

"Hey, guys! Can I help you guys?" the driver asked.

"Uh, sure…" I replied.

"Hey, why are there so many cups in the trash?" he noticed.

Luigi got some gloves and started taking out everything that was in the trash can. He found multiple used cloths and chemistry cups or whatever they are called. The killer must have used them for some something.

**Truth Bullet #10 There are used cloths and cups for some reason.**

"Hey, guys. Don't you think the killer could have used these cups to trick Bayonetta or something?" Captain Falcon suggested.

"No… There was a cup in-a the music room," Luigi responded.

"But what if the killer used all of these materials to swap the contents of the bottles," I said.

"What do you mean by that, Link?"

"The killer must have put medicine in one of the acid bottles and acid in the medicine."

"Oh! Damn, how are the killers always so smart?"

'They're not, you're just dumb' I mentally told myself.

"We should check all of the bottles to find out if this theory is true or not."

The three of us set up an experiment to check the contents of the bottles and eventually found a bottle containing medicine instead of acid.

**Truth Bullet #11 Somebody swapped the contents of a medicine bottle and an acid bottle.**

Just as we were about to leave, Jigglypuff entered and screamed.

"Why do you humans always leave so much hair?" she shouted, "How can you guys handle this?"

"The hair is-a black. I guess this-a proves that Bayonetta entered if you didn't-a believe me. Not that I'd-a blame you…"

"Don't worry, I believed you," I smiled.

**Truth Bullet #12 There's black hair on the floor.**

* * *

Luigi, Captain Falcon and I returned to the music hall to see if there was anything else we could find. We looked around the mess that was probably left by the killer and found a paper with some writing on it.

**あくしでんと**

Could this be some type of message?

**Truth Bullet #13 A weird message was left by someone.**

The three of us stared at the paper unable to understand it. We decided that we'd head to the library afterwards to try and decode it.

We looked at the room and noticed something odd about the chairs. The way they had been broken didn't seem to have any connection to Bayonetta's death since she didn't have any injuries that weren't due to the acid. Was the killer trying to set up something?

**Truth Bullet #14 The broken chairs appear to have no connection with Bayonetta's death.**

There didn't seem to be anything left to find in the room so we went to the library.

* * *

There were a few people in the library. Cloud was looking at a paper with Kirby, Samus seemed to be looking for a book with Zelda. Zelda noticed me and walked towards me.

"Hi, Link. What are you doing here?" the princess asked.

"I'm looking for a book that might help me figure out this message," I told her while showing the paper.

"You also found a weird message?" Kirby said running up to me.

"Yeah, have you figured it out?"

"Not yet, but I'm having Cloud translate it for me."

"What do you mean I'm translating for you?" the blond shouted.

"Exactly that. Now can you write it in normal letters?" the puff ordered.

The blond wrote the message in 'normal letters' and showed it to us.

**Sori**

"Sori? Like sorry?" Kirby wondered.

"I guess. It doesn't seem like anyone here besides Cloud knows Japanese," Zelda answered, "You know, maybe the killer used the Japanese alphabet to write a coded message."

"That would explain everything. Cloud kept telling me it meant sled and I was really confused."

"We should figure out what all of these mean."

In the end, we ended up with a weird message.

**Sori ito akushidento**

"Sori ito akushidento?" Captain Falcon read out loud, "That doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe, it is-a supposed to-a mean sorry it-a accident," Luigi suggested.

"I think we should return to the music room to see if there are any other messages," I said.

* * *

In the music room, we searched for more papers. We eventually found two more papers with short messages and put them with the others.

**そり いと わす あん あくしでんと**

"Sori ito wasu an akushidento," Cloud read.

"Does the killer mean 'sorry it was an accident'?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know… We'll have to see." I replied.

**Truth Bullet #15 The message "Sorry, it was an accident" was left by someone.**

***Ding Dong Ding Dong***

" **Yeah, I'm like really bored of you guys. I even remade the announcement. Uh… Whatever, you know the drill. It's punish- I mean it's time to duel… In the class trial!"**

Is it me or is Master Hand acting strange?

* * *

We all made our way to the elevator. Monokuma was waiting for everyone. I only heard him joking about turning positive things negative but decided to ignore him. The bear seemed hurt and went away.

Once everyone arrived, we entered the elevator and were surrounded by complete silence before the elevator started going down. The doors opened and we introduced to a newly decorated trial site. It looked like a magical kingdom with weird colorful mountains. If this wasn't a trial site, I would have actually complimented Master Hand.

"I think we've outdone ourselves this time. Do you guys agree?" the hand laughed.

"Where do you even get all these ideas?" Jigglypuff asked.

"I'm actually from another dimension where all of us are fighters from different worlds. Each trial ground represents the last victim's world."

"What!?"

"It's a joke, Jiggles."

"Aw, we only have nine students left…" Monokuma sulked.

"I wonder who's fault it is…" Samus groaned.

"Well, it's the killer's fault. No one forced them to kill," Monokuma smirked.

"Alright students, go to your seats! It is time for the fourth class trial!" Master Hand announced.

Everyone went to their usual spot and prepared themselves for the class trial. Once again, the thoughts of life and death filled up my mind. Accident or not… This case needed to be solved. I couldn't let anyone else die an unnecessary death. I had to make sure to emerge victorious once again. I could feel that I was a step closer to figuring out this school. This school of murder and despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.  
> See you next chapter.


	14. Chapter 4 - Smashed Apologies - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link must figure out who killed Bayonetta's killer was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday, I'll release a "trailer" of the next story.

"Let's start with an explanation of the class trial." Monokuma started. "During the trial, you will present arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished and you will continue living your normal life here. But if you pick wrong, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be allowed to graduate."

"You guys can start with the cause of death," Master Hand said.

"Bayonetta died at midnight due to acid," Ness recalled.

"But how was she killed by the acid?" Jigglypuff asked.

"The killer could have thrown it on her," Zelda answered.

"So the killer must have attacked her with the chairs before using the acid to kill her."

_That can't be the case. The Master File explains it._

"That's not possible. The Master File explicitly says that her injuries were caused after her death. This means that she couldn't have been attacked with the chairs or with the acid."

"You're-a right, Link. She didn't-s have any-s bruises on her-a body, so the chairs couldn't have-a been-a used to attack and there wouldn't-a be any-a point in attacking her after her-a death." Luigi added.

"But how was she killed with the acid?" Cloud asked.

"She drank it herself," I responded.

"She what?" Samus frowned, "Why would she drink it herself? Did she kill herself?"

"Technically yes but it wasn't suicide," I explained, "Luigi told me Bayonetta was sick and went into the chemistry lab. She must have gone inside to get some medicine."

"If the killer knew she was sick… They must have given her acid instead of medicine."

"Or maybe the killer put the acid in advance and waited for her to take it." Ness theorized.

"They could have also waited for someone else to give her the medicine so that the blame would be taken off them," Cloud said.

"Hey, Master Hand?"

"What now, Link?"

"Let's say what Cloud said was what happened. Who would be the blackened? The one who put the acid in the medicine bottle or the one who gave it to Bayonetta?"

"If the one who gave her the medicine was aware of there being acid, they'd be the killer. If not, the killer is the one who put the acid in the medicine bottle."

"So there's no way this case could be a suicide or accidental suicide," Samus stated.

"One of you put the acid in a medicine bottle. Imagine I hadn't caught you and I got sick, I'd be dead! Luckily, I see all."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jigglypuff interrupted, "What's all this about medicine-acid swapping?"

"I found a medicine bottle, a cup, and instructions in the music room. With Luigi's help, we managed to find an acid bottle that didn't contain acid but medicine," I explained to the pink puff.

"We even found chemistry stuff in the trash!" Captain Falcon added.

"Okay, but how does that explain her body being covered in acid?" Kirby demanded to know.

"I'm not sure yet… There must be a reason."

"I guess we can save that for later. Now that we know how she died, we should figure out what the messages are supposed to mean."

"It was written in Hiragana and read "Sorry, it was an accident" when all the messages were put together," Cloud explained.

"What accident? Did the killer write that?" Samus asked.

"I assume. I think the accident refers to them killing Bayonetta."

"How could that be an accident? You don't accidentally kill people with acid."

"Think about it, there was no true motive to kill Bayonetta. None of her statements should get her killed," I said.

"Yeah. If anything, the ones to target are Kirby, Cloud, and anyone with blond hair," Jigglypuff puffed.

"Maybe the killer intended to kill one of them and instead accidentally killed Bayonetta," Ness added.

"But no one else was sick. Only Bayonetta," Zelda responded, "Maybe the killer was hoping that the mastermind would end up sick. If the mastermind was sick, they could act delusional and accidentally drink the acid."

"So the killer was trying to save us?"

"I guess but their plan must have failed."

_So why bother creating such a mess in the music room?_

"But why did the killer create the mess?" I asked.

"Huh?" Zelda gasped in shock, "That's true! Why would the killer bother creating a mess?"

"Hey, Master Hand, what happens if a killer tells everyone that they are the killer?"

"They can't do that! That would be so boring. I would never let that happen, who do you think I am?"

_So could it be that the killer didn't want to kill and is trying to tell us they are the killer?_

"Hey, guys… Do you think it's possible that Master Hand forced the killer to create that mess?" I asked everyone.

"How dare you accuse me?"

"Yeah, it does make sense. The mess didn't seem to be related to Bayonetta's death and it would explain the acid on her body," Cloud said as everyone ignored Master Hand's complaints.

"If that's the case… Then there's no way Bayonetta's statements can all be true," Kirby yelled, "If Link is right, then Master Hand only directed what happened after the murder but not the murder itself and Master Hand told us something that proves this."

"He said that if he hadn't caught the killer swapping the acid and the medicine, he would've died if he got sick," I remembered, "Master Hand wants us to die not him."

"Exactly!" the hand laughed.

"I guess this confirms that the killer was trying to kill the mastermind and not Bayonetta."

"Master Hand, how would you drink the medicine if you don't have a mouth?" Captain Falcon asked.

"Now that is extremely offensive, you little obnoxious driver. Monokuma, execute him!"

"Upupupupu!"

"WHAT!?" the obnoxious driver screamed.

"Upupupu! It's a joke. An unbearable joke!" the bear laughed.

…

"Now that we know the motive, we just have to find the culprit," Jigglypuff smiled.

"But that could be anyone… Except for the mastermind," Zelda sighed.

"Well, we can't use the motives as help since everyone knows everyone's statements."

"If I remember correctly, Captain Falcon never told us his statements."

"Um… They're really embarrassing," the driver blushed, "Samus is hot, Samus is not hot and Samus is actually a guy."

Samus looked at the driver with shock and disgust and then glared at Master Hand and Monokuma who gave her a 'what?' look.

"I think the first-"

"Anyways, we should talk more about the motives," I said cutting off the driver before he'd say anything that would get him killed by Samus.

"You know, Cloud's motive is pretty suspicious," Kirby said, "If he was related to the mastermind, he'd probably be disgusted and try to kill them."

"Nah, there's no way he's related to the mastermind. It's quite obvious he's lying about his talent," Jigglypuff argued.

"I am not lying about my talent!"

"You totally are! It's better than being related to the mastermind. You can trust all of us to keep your true talent secret."

"I've had enough of this. I quit. Master Hand let me go!"

"Hey, you can't leave. The trial just got interesting. Monokuma just finished making himself some popcorn." Master Hand said while pointing out Monokuma who was walking towards Cloud.

"Upupupu! Want some?" the bear offered before being met with a kick to the face.

"Guys!" Samus yelled, "We need to continue with the trial! You can beat up Monokuma once the trial is over."

_I don't think talking about the motives will get us any closer to solving this mystery…_

"I think we should focus on something else like… Where did Bayonetta die?" I suggested.

"In the music room, but why would she take the medicine there?" Zelda wondered.

"Wouldn't she take her medicine in her room?"

"You're right. There is no logical reason for her to drink her medicine in the music room."

"The Master File doesn't specify where she died, which means she might not have died in the music room."

"But why would the instructions and cup be in the music room?" Kirby asked.

"The killer could have-a moved them-a there along with-a Bayonetta," Luigi suggested.

"But why bother doing that?" Jigglypuff said.

"Upupupu! It seems you can't agree," Monokuma noticed, "It's time for a debate scrum! Everyone who thinks Bayonetta died in the music room go to the right, everyone else to the left!"

I walked to the left side of the room along with Luigi, Captain Falcon, Cloud and Zelda. Jigglypuff, Ness, Samus and Kirby went to the right. Once we were all in place, Monokuma announced the start of the scrum debate.

"Jiggles, you're up!"

"Don't call me that," she groaned, "No one would be able to carry Bayonetta from a different room to the music room without leaving a trail!"

"Unless the killer is one of the small puffs, anyone can carry her in a way that doesn't leave a trail," Zelda argued.

"Um… B-Bayonetta is pretty tall so she must be heavy. I don't think anyone could easily put her on top of the piano," Ness stuttered.

"There are plenty of people here capable of lifting a dead body and putting it on top of a piano," Cloud replied.

"If she didn't die in the music room, why would the killer even bother moving her?" Samus asked.

"Because-a Master Hand wouldn't-a accept an easy case!" Luigi shouted.

"There is no evidence, such as acid stains, in any other room in the school," Kirby smirked.

_They might not be stains… But they're evidence nonetheless._

"The evidence is in the trash," I said.

"In the chemistry lab! There were used cloths and chemistry stuff!" Captain Falcon smiled.

_This means she must have died in the chemistry lab._

"Bayonetta died in the chemistry lab before being moved to the music room," I said.

"Hey, didn't Luigi say he saw Bayonetta go to the chemistry lab?" Ness remembered.

"Luigi! You can't go around being the main culprit in every case!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"B-but-a!"

"There's no way that Luigi is the culprit!" Zelda shouted, "I also saw Bayonetta go to the chemistry lab and Luigi never entered it."

"T-thank you, a-Zelda."

"You're welcome."

"I guess everyone's a potential culprit now…" Ness sighed.

"No, it's got to be someone strong enough to carry Bayonetta from the chemistry lab to the music room."

"But that's still most of us!" Kirby complained, "I say Cloud is the culprit, he knows Japanese and is used to wielding oversized swords."

"Nah, I say Samus. She's been angry during the whole trial, I bet it's a facade," Jigglypuff smirked, "It's great being so small. We're never suspects!"

"I do not want to hear that coming from someone who was a main suspect during the second trial," Samus grunted.

"What if the killer moved Bayonetta to the music room to rule out everyone who's small," I hypothesized.

"What are you getting at, Link?"

"The killer must be someone small. By making it seem impossible for them to move her, they can be ruled out of the suspect list."

"Kirby, I trusted you!" Jigglypuff screamed.

"I didn't kill her!"

"He's right," I said, "Only one person could do it…"

_It can only be him… The one with abilities to move her…_

"Ness, you killed Bayonetta."

"What? Ness didn't-a kill-a Bayonetta," Luigi shouted.

"He's the only one who could have-"

"No! He had no-a reason!"

"We already discussed tha-"

"It had to-a be someone-a big!"

"Luigi, I'm telling you that was-"

"You can't-a prove he-a killed her!"

"I can."

"Nothing we-a found proves it's-a him!"

"We found black hair."

"It's-a Bayonetta's!"

"There's one thing that proves it was him."

"Say it, a-Link! It won't-a help you!"

"It will."

"Sure it-a will!"

"There were no gloves in the trash!"

"W-what!?"

"You need gloves to handle acids unless you can use telekinesis to carry the products."

"D-Dio mio…" Luigi sobbed, "Why did it have to be-a him?"

"..."

"I think you should summarize this case, Link," Zelda suggested.

I nodded and recollected all of my thoughts to explain the murder.

"After discovering the chemistry lab and receiving the motives, the killer thought of an idea to kill the mastermind. They went to the chemistry lab to swap the contents of an acid bottle and a medicine bottle. They used the material available to swap the contents with the help of their telekinesis and cleaned up afterwards. They were hoping that the mastermind to would get sick and forget about the swap.

However, someone else got sick instead: Bayonetta. At night, she went to the chemistry lab and was seen by Zelda and Luigi. Unaware of the swap, she drank the acid and died.

It's likely that Master Hand or Monokuma told the killer what they had done and forced them to create something more interesting and to not reveal themselves.

Thus leading the killer to move Bayonetta's corpse to the music room. They also made sure to bring everything Bayonetta had touched to make it seem like she died music room. To further confuse us, they used some spare acid to make it seem like she had been attacked with acid.

Afterwards, they wrote a message using the hiragana alphabet so that the mastermind wouldn't be able to figure out its purpose. The killer wanted to make sure that everyone knew the killing was an accident. To hide the message, they destroyed chairs in the music room and hid the papers on which they wrote in the mess."

"You're right," Ness smiled with tears in his eyes, "I… I got Bayonetta killed because of a stupid plan."

"Upupupu! Voting time!"

I pulled my lever and voted for Ness.

"Correct again!" Master Hand announced, "I'm so proud of you. I feel like a teacher seeing their students grow."

"N-Ness… Why?" Luigi sobbed.

"I… I wanted to help everyone… I wanted to end this game. Bayonetta didn't deserve to die…"

"Why does-a Ness have to die? He didn't want-a Bayonetta to die?"

"Hey, rules are rules. You kill and get caught, you get punished," Monokuma smirked.

"B-but-"

"It's okay, Luigi… I deserve to be punished. I don't want to live knowing my actions got an innocent person killed."

"No! Master Hand, punish me-a instead!"

"Like hell, I will. Seeing you despair is so satisfying. It's what we all want to see. Right, Monokuma?"

"Upupupu!" Monokuma nodded, "It's time for what we've all been waiting!"

"It's punishment time!"

"Nooo!" Luigi screamed.

* * *

Ness is transported to a pink cloud. He is above a pink forest with beautiful light blue rivers. More clouds appear and on top of one lies a small gray house. A Monokuma dressed in a bird costume comes out of the little house and starts laughing. It starts walking towards Ness as more houses spawn and more Monokumas exit them. The Monokumas all line up in front of Ness and stay still for a few seconds. They suddenly start running towards the young boy without warning.

**Bound to Earth**

Ness runs as he is being chased by the robot bears. He jumps from cloud to cloud and lets them fall behind him. As the Monokumas chase him, he begins to tire and misses a cloud. He falls and the beautiful landscape that once surrounded him transforms into a city. On the ground, a Monokuma dressed in a baseball outfit is waiting for him. When Ness is about to hit the ground, the Monokuma hits him with a bat and a crowd of Monokumas start cheering. Ness is sent flying through the city as meteorites start falling around him and his hat falls off his head. Ness is caught by a big Monokuma that laughs at his fright and throws him into the air. The meteorites that turn out to be baseball balls start hitting him. Ness lands on hard concrete as the number of balls hitting him increases. After a short while the balls stop arriving and Ness is lying on a pool of his own blood barely alive. He tries to get up but sees a huge ball flying towards him. His eyes widen before he is hit by the ball and his head is crushed by the impact. All that is left is Ness' dead body on a pool of blood and a big ball in the place of his head. A Monokuma holding Ness' cap walks towards the ball and places the hat on top of it.

* * *

"Man, how boring… He was so ready to die," Master Hand whined.

"Y-you… You actually take pleasure in seeing people suffer?" Zelda yelled.

"It took you that long to notice!"

"You're… You're just a stupid mean crazy hand!"

"What did you say?"

"You're a stupid crazy hand!"

"Crazy hand? Crazy… Crazy… Crazy hand…"

"What's happening to Master Hand?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Crazy… Crazy… Crazy…"

"Did he break?" Kirby said.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Master Hand laughed suddenly breaking out of his character, "Crazy hand! Hahahahaha!"

"We might as well start calling you that," Samus frowned.

"Crazy Hand it is!" Captain Falcon decided.

"How dare you filthy inferior shits call me that!?" the left hand shouted as his movements started becoming glitchy and his vocabulary changed, "You won't get away with this! We will fucking make you feel despair more than ever before. Just like we did to those little shits before you!"

"What are you taking about?" I asked him.

"Oh, wouldn't you wanna fucking know! This trial is over!" Crazy Hand screamed as he disappeared leaving us alone with Monokuma.

The bear just stared at us without moving. It seemed like something was wrong with him. Almost like the person controlling it stopped giving it commands. The room was silent until Luigi broke into tears. He had tried to move past his brother's death but instead was hit by his best friend's death. Zelda attempted to comfort him and he seemed to calm down.

"I-I… I have to-a move on… But… I don't want to-a forget-a Mario and-a Ness…" the Italian cried.

"You don't have to forget them," Zelda told him.

"B-but… If I cry over them… The mastermind will be happy and think they're winning…"

"You don't need to cry or forget them, you can cherish them in your heart."

"Zelda's right," I said, "You can live for them. When we get out, you can make the world remember their legacy. I'll gladly help you."

"Y-you guys…" Luigi sniffed before hugging everyone, "We… We will-a make it out alive!"

* * *

I went back to my room and decided to look at Pikachu's notes. I specifically searched for anything with the word 'despair' in it since the masterminds seemed quite obsessed with it. After ten minutes, I found something of interest.

**Home room teacher: ? ? Ultimate Ruler**

I guess that makes sense… But Crazy Hand is a pretty shit ruler… Maybe it has to do something with the fact that he's good at forcing people to do stuff.

**Cereza Umbra Ultimate Witch**

**Cloud Strife Ultimate Mercenary**

**Donkey Kong Ultimate Drummer**

**Douglas Jay Falcon Ultimate Driver**

**Fox McCloud Ultimate Pilot**

**Kirby Sakurai Ultimate** **tthsctqhun?**

**Link Farore Ultimate Puzzle Solver**

**Luigi Martinetti Ultimate Little Brother**

**Mario Martinetti Ultimate Plumber**

**Ness Eagleland Ultimate Psychic**

**Ryu Takashi Ultimate Martial Artist**

**Samus Aran Ultimate Bounty Hunter**

**Yoshi Hino Ultimate Babysitter**

**Zelda Hyrule Ultimate Magician**

**? ? Ultimate Despair - one of the students above**

"One of us… is definitely the Ultimate Despair?" I said out loud in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, see you next chapter.


	15. Super Smashronpa 2 - Goodbye Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The promised trailer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is full of many inside jokes with my fanfiction.net followers XD

**From the author who brought you** _**The Academy of Hope and the Fighters of Despair** _ **. Comes the sequel which is the only reason you even read the original because it promised Melee characters.**

* * *

"You know… When I came to this academy, I didn't imagine we'd go on a school trip on the very first day," Duck said gracefully.

"Can't complain. It ain't everyday ya get a bonus vacation," Dog replied.

"I just wish…"

"What do ya wish, Duck?"

"I wish we weren't on a deserted island on which everyone agrees that if we run out of food, I'll be the first one they eat!"

**But the audience wanted smash 4 characters more.**

* * *

Bowser was at the beach staring at mechanical parts when Ganondorf walked up to him.

"Why aren't you fixing that thing?" the green man asked.

"It's just… I don't think my real talent is being a mechanic. It's like someone gave us the wrong talents. I've always had servants fix things for me."

"Well… Maybe they accidentally messed up something. What are you talented at?"

"Kidnapping blonde girls."

Ganondorf stared in shock after hearing the koopa's revelations fearing for his sisters' lives. But then he remembered that all of his sisters where red heads.

"So… Can you teach me about kidnapping?"

The koopa smiled.

**So the author brings you a story about hope…**

* * *

Marth and Roy were playing Super Bash Sisters 4 in the hotel while Popo and Nana stared from behind a sofa in fear.

"I'm so happy this hotel happened to have this game for anyone to play," Roy smiled.

"Roy, you threatened those two tiny kids to get this game," Marth replied.

"I need to act like a yakuza guy since that's my talent apparently. I don't think dad ever was part of the mafia, it must be from mom's family."

"Whatever, those kids were stupid to be afraid of you. You're so small that you're not scary at all."

"You know the character I'm playing as now used to be shorter than yours. She was a loli in SBS2, but now look at her, she's taller and sexier than your character. If she can grow, so can I. So, just you wait and see. In a few years, I'll be taller and way hotter than you."

"R-Roy taller than me?" the prince stuttered as he despaired at the idea of Roy being taller than him in the future.

**And despair.**

* * *

In the restaurant, a tall green man was arguing with a blonde girl and a short blond guy.

"You are such an asshole!" Sheik screamed.

"You're being one yourself!" Ganondorf shouted back.

"Man, I'm surrounded by idiots…" (spoilers) sighed.

"Did you just call me an idiot?" Sheik and Ganondorf asked simultaneously.

"No, I called you geniuses. Amazing geniuses, I've never met people so smart in my whole life. Even my genius cousin is nothing compared to you two," (spoilers) said with totally no sarcasm.

"Shut up, (spoilers). I'm the Ultimate Hope, I could get you killed," the green guy threatened.

"Sure."

"No, but in all seriousness. My sisters hate men that aren't me, they'd gladly kill you."

"Hey, aren't they the ones who let my cousin hang out with them when he cross-dressed?"

"(spoilers), you're spoiling way too much!" Sheik cried.

**Filled with many Nintendo references…**

* * *

In the kitchen, Dog was attempting to cook for Peach. Since he didn't have any hands, he was having trouble using all the kitchen stuff.

"It's useless, useless, useless. I'm… I'm just a dog!"

"Don't say that. You're more than a dog. You're a cook, our cook," the princess smiled.

"No… You've probably said that so many times that you don't remember how many. Just like the number of breads you've eaten."

"You can't give up! There's an anime where a dog had a stronger will than a human and it developed its own stand. I believe you can develop your own!"

"I understand. But what if they don't like my food?"

"Then tell them to eat shit and to fall off their chair," the blonde cheered.

**And even more obligatory Jojo references.**

* * *

Falco was dancing and falling on his butt but mostly falling on his butt. He was supposed to dance for everyone with beauty and grace but instead ended up as the number one comedian on the island. Which is quite something considering who's present on the island.

"Damn it! I fucking hate these fans," the bird cursed.

"There are kids here, Falco. Look they're traumatized," Peach pointed out.

"They've been traumatized since they arrived at Hope's Peak."

"I don't get it. What's so scary about giant turtles, green men, midget death threats, psychics and electric rats?" Game & Watched asked oblivious to everything rational.

Especially oblivious to the fact that he was freaking everyone out due to the fact that he was 2D.

**With original personalities for the characters without a personality…**

* * *

It was a sunny day. The beach was looking very beautiful and everyone was playing beach volley or something, at this point even the narrator doesn't know. The team captains were Marth and Mewtwo. Mewtwo was having a very hard time controlling his anger and team.

"I know what you're thinking, Falco. Going to the left is not a good idea right now!" the psychic pokemon yelled as he read the bird's mind, "Peach, stop daydreaming about hot guys. Focus on the ball! Popo and Nana, you two don't move. Dog, you can't run into the others camp, I know you love that ball!"

The dog didn't listen and ran after the ball anyway.

"Roy, if you set that ball on fire, you will regret it. Pichu go get the ball and don't-" the pokemon yelled before feeling a shock in his body, "-electrocute the team. Arceus, I hate this job. Damn it, everyone's down. I have no choice, I'll have to use them."

In the end, Mewtwo's team won because he used telekinesis to move the ball.

**And OOCness for everyone else.**

* * *

Nana was sitting on a chair while searching for inspiration. Her best friend, Popo, told her to take photos of people doing their 'normal' routine. So Nana walked towards the others' cabins and looked through the windows. She wasn't very discrete and ended up getting caught. Everyone confronted her angrily.

"I can't believe you took photos of me looking at magazines!" Dr. Mario shouted.

"You took photos of me in my underwear!" Peach screamed.

"You photographed me when I still hadn't finished brushing my hair!" Marth yelled with more anger than Dr. Mario and Peach combined.

Almost everyone was angry at Nana, except a few.

"Can you give me your photos so that I can blackmail everyone?" (spoilers) asked.

"C-could I have Peach's photos? It's not for blackmail reasons…" Bowser whispered.

Nana didn't know if she should be scared or happy.

**A humorous story…**

* * *

"Hey, Dog?" Duck asked.

"What is it, Duck?"

"I need to find you a mate."

"What for?"

"I need to breed you."

"But there aren't any other female dogs here."

"Fine, I'll get you a human who wants to adopt you and owns a dog."

Duck went around asking everyone around was disappointed to find out that most people who owned animals had horses. 'I haven't asked (spoilers) yet, I should ask him…' the duck thought.

"Hey, (spoilers). Do you have a pet?"

"Yeah, I have a horse-"

"Oh, for dog's sake! Say something besides horse."

"I have two dogs."

"Perfect, a third one won't hurt."

**With pretty dark humor…**

* * *

Sheik was feeling very depressed. She was supposed to be the Ultimate Heir but she was surrounded by a bunch of rich kids fighting over who was the richest or some other rich kid shit.

"My father owns a huge amount of land. I don't think yours can compete," Peach taunted.

"Your dad is afraid of my dad. He lets you get kidnapped all the time," Bowser laughed.

"Oh, please. Your families are absolute trash compared to mine. They're rich, loved by our people, they kill dragons for fun, befriend them and marry them too… Chrom's kinda weird… But his wife will attack you with books if she's angry," Marth smirked.

"So? My dad is BFFs with Hector and Lyn, or maybe he married Lyn, I'm not sure. Anyway, Hector could kill everyone here by himself," Roy bragged.

"You guys have nothing on my dad-mom-I don't know, Mew. Mew can easily control everyone on this island and force everyone into a killing game," Mewtwo said.

'Everyone's got such unique wonderful families…' Sheik thought as she watched her classmates argue.

**And lots of spoilers for the games you haven't played yet.**

* * *

Dr. Mario tripped over dog poop and fell. He was hurt so he looked for (spoilers) the Ultimate Nurse. (spoilers) tended to his wounds by giving him milk and potions which confused the Italian.

"How is this going to help?" the injured man asked.

"It worked for Game & Watch."

"He's covered in blood."

"No, that's just a red potion."

"It's better than Mewtwo's psychic crap."

Mewtwo glared at (spoilers) who stuck out his tongue to mock the cat-like pokemon. Suddenly Pichu came in running.

"Nurse! We need help! People are on fire!"

"I bet Roy set them on fire, I told him that he was only allowed to set Marth on fire. Where are they?"

"Um… Actually, I accidentally sent an electric shock which lit the TV on fire so Peach freaked out and tried to stop it but her skirt caught fire and she ran around everywhere and other people ended up on fire."

**Where people get hurt physically…**

* * *

Popo wanted to show Nana his gaming skills and luckily for them, the hotel had a copy of Super Bash Sisters 4 and a Wee U. Popo spent one hour trying to set up the console, in the end, Nana had to do all the work. The two kids were about to play when the scariest person on the island arrived: Eliwoo- I mean Roy.

"Hey, you two," Roy smiled "If you don't let me play on that console. I'll burn you to death."

"It's okay, you can play with us," Popo squeaked.

"Who do you think I am? I'm the leader of the most fierce yakuza, the Pherae yakuza. Notable members include Eliwood, Hector, Lyn, Ninian, Fiora, Lilina, Shanna and your mom."

"Uh…"

"Give me the game or I'll make my Marth kill you," the redhead threatened, "Oh, by the way, Marth you're part of my gang now!"

Popo was so scared he almost took a shit in his pants. He grabbed Nana's hand and took her behind the sofa.

**And emotionally.**

* * *

Princess Peach could not be happier. She was grinning, laughing and annoying Sheik, but Sheik liked Peach so she tolerated her.

"I'm so glad we have classmates that own swords. Now I can practice!" the princess squealed.

"What do you want to practice?"

"I'm going to use the sword to beat the shit out of the ugly guys who keep asking me on dates. They don't seem to understand that I have no interest in them."

"I see, it must be annoying to deal with them."

"Did you know that Bowser kidnaps me every Tuesday? My dad doesn't even bother protecting me, he told me not to harm Bowser. I even started paying my plumber to beat up Bowser."

"I understand why you would pick up the sword after all the trouble you've been through."

"I know right. Oh, hey! Look there's (spoilers). Don't you think he's just the hottest? He rejected me last time I asked him, I'm sure this time he'll want to date me."

'The people from the Mushroom Kingdom have a very unique… dating culture?' Sheik thought.

**But they still manage to be happy…**

* * *

While Mewtwo was busy yelling at his team, Marth was just lying around with sunglasses like a boss.

"Hey, Marth. What should we do?" Duck asked.

"Not much you can do. Do you mind sitting some more in the sun? I feel like eating roasted duck."

"W-what!?"

"It's a joke, Duck. It's a fucking joke!" Sheik yelled.

"How come you never act like a princess?" (spoilers) asked Marth.

"It's Ultimate Prince, not princess. I don't care what the e-handbook says. I am acting like a prince, I always act like this," the prince replied.

"I think he meant a good prince worthy of being the Ultimate Prince," Dr. Mario sighed.

"All right! Let's do this, friends. Our friendship will help us win! Everyone, look at me! I'm going to help us win with our friendship!" Marth cheered before switching back to his original tone, "Is that what you want me to act like?"

"That's some creepy good acting skills," Bowser told Ganondorf.

"I think his snobby attitude is more princess-like," the green man admitted.

"Guys, we're losing," Mr. Game & Watch announced.

**And have fun.**

* * *

Dr. Mario was looking for a place to practice. Practice what? You may ask. His gymnastics, of course. He ended up choosing a tree as his training spot. The Italian jumped and he fell. He practiced for quite some time but wasn't getting anywhere.

'I might need to warm up' the man thought.

He decided to go on a run. Duck who had seen him joined him, but he flew instead of running because he is a bird. They were traveling happily together when suddenly, Duck spotted something.

"M-Mario, watch out there's a-"

"Mamma mia!" Mario shouted in pain breaking his accent and falling.

"Piece of shit on the ground…"

"I-a… Um… I have to go see the nurse."

"Sure, be careful."

**This summer…**

* * *

Pichu was having a very intellectual and philosophic conversation with Mewtwo. Or at least as philosophic as it can get if you're Pichu. Pikachu was the smart one, not him.

"My big brother is very smart, yet I got into Hope's Peak!" the yellow critter smiled.

"That must be why you're the Ultimate Lucky Student," Mewtwo said in a bored manner.

"Yeah, who knows what my luck may cause!"

"Right."

"We could end up in a killing game! What if big brother ends up in a killing game?"

"Oh, wow. How scary."

"I know right!"

Little did they know…

**The new Smashronpa…**

* * *

Falco needed someone to compose some music for his dance. Luckily for him, the Ultimate Musician was in his class. Mr. Game & Watch took Falco's offer to heart and created the best piece he could come up with.

"It's nice," the blue bird started, "But, it's not traditional music. I need something more Japanese."

"Um… I only know how to compose 8-Bit music."

"Can you at least make it sound Japanese?"

"I'll try."

A few hours later…

"I'm done, listen!"

"Game… We're in a written story, how am I supposed to hear that?"

"You had no problem earlier, Falco."

**Arrives on the internet.**

* * *

**Dangan Island: Huge Panic at the Heart Throbbing** **School Trip?**

"Upupupupupu!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma here! You're all pretty excited, right?
> 
> I think we need names for Duck and Dog. Does anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> As some of you might have guessed, the talents aren't their actual talents. Except for Marth, he's the Ultimate Prince. I even used a list randomizer and he still got his actual talent! Also, Lucina is Marth's cousin in this story (because we are not dealing with time travel except for the epic final plot twist of the last story with Young Link), so that makes Chrom Marth's uncle and Robin Marth's aunt.
> 
> (spoilers) identity is actually pretty obvious if you've been reading carefully. He's been mentioned several times already and his dialog kinda gives it up. I just thought it would be really funny too write his name as (spoilers).
> 
> Sheik is not the same character as Zelda. They're different characters in this AU. Just thought I had to make this clear to avoid confusion.
> 
> Oh, by the way. Duck Hunt Duo are the characters that made it in. You can still vote for who you want as a protagonist but they have to have appeared in the trailer. That means you can even vote for me, Monokuma!
> 
> Upupupu! See you guys next chapter!


	16. Chapter 5 - Despair Junk - Daily Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new floor has been unlocked and a new despairing motive has been announced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a really good week for me lol.
> 
> I'm gonna be hated for this chapter.

"You really made them believe you broke back there."

"..."

"They're calling you Crazy Hand now. Must be humiliating for you! Upupu!"

"I'm… I'm remembering…"

"Huh? So it has started…"

"Everything… Who I used to be… The brainwashing… W-what did you do to me?"

"This is no good… I can't have you suddenly regretting your actions… Guess it's Ultimate Despair time!"

* * *

**? ? Ultimate Despair - one of the students above**

I couldn't stop staring in disbelief. I had hoped that the mastermind was a student from another and not one of my friends. I felt like a part of me died at that moment…

That feeling happened a few days… before despair struck again. Before another murder… Before the most horrible despair-inducing event happened.

* * *

It was the end of summer and I was standing in front of Hope's Peak Academy. Many people were making their way to the school. They were students and parents, but all of their faces were blurred.

"Hey, stop staring," a voice coming from behind me laughed, "You're going to hate looking at it in a week."

I turned around to see who was talking to me but all I saw was a blurry face. Despite that, I felt like I knew the person talking to me.

Actually, everything felt so familiar…

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

"It was… Just a dream… But it felt so familiar…"

"Now hold on a second, Link!" Monokuma screamed, "You can't go around having flashback sequences!"

"Monokuma? What are you talking about? Never mind… What are you doing in my room?"

"Upupupu!" the bear laughed before disappearing and ignoring my questions.

Annoyed, I went to the cafeteria to meet up with everyone else.

Luigi had made us a delicious breakfast. We all ate while discussing what to do next. We agreed to investigate the fifth floor in pairs of two. Once we were all done eating, we headed to the fifth floor.

* * *

The fifth floor felt different to all the other floors. It had this weird eerie atmosphere that made me believe the next murder would definitely happen here.

We split up into four groups and I ended up with Zelda. We decided to start investigating the classrooms since they didn't seem to contain anything interesting most of the time.

The first classroom was boring. It had a weird drawing of Monokuma being stepped on which made me laugh but besides that, the classroom had no clues.

The second classroom was like the first one. The blackboard had a drawing of Monokuma chasing me which made Zelda laugh, but once again nothing of interest.

However, the third classroom was different. It wasn't what I had expected at all. It was the most disgusting classroom I had ever seen.

All the chairs and tables had been knocked over. The blackboard had many cuts and a paper close to it had messages written in blood. There were blood splatters everywhere. White lines had been drawn on the floor. They were lines indicating the placements of bodies… Dead bodies… The disgusting smell of death and despair in the air was making me feel sick.

"What happened in here?" I asked.

"I don't know… From the look of it, people died," Zelda answered with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Who could have done this?"

"I guess Crazy Hand, he's the one behind all of this."

"Upupupu!" Monokuma laughed appearing out of thin air.

_Is he stalking me or something?_

"You guys always blame him for everything!"

"So, it was you?" Zelda frowned.

"Nope! Crazy Hand and I had nothing to do with this. We didn't change or touch anything here."

After a while, the bear left us in peace. I continued looking at the room. The blood was dry and looked very old. It seemed like there had been a fight inside.

If the classroom didn't stink as much as it did, I would have investigated some more…

* * *

Zelda and I walked down the corridor and ended up in front of the Biology lab. The door to the lab was covered with a graffiti.

"Raw meat," I read out loud.

"The door is locked."

"I don't want to know what is inside that lab."

"Same here… I think raw meat might refer to… Bodies… Seeing how twisted the mastermind is, I wouldn't be surprised."

* * *

We entered the fifth floor's dojo and were met with beautiful cherry blossoms. The sight was beautiful and there were a lot of Japanese decorations. Towards the back of the room, there was a target practice. I tried checking the lockers but they were locked.

_I could totally see Ryu liking this room._

* * *

After checking out the dojo, we went to the greenhouse. There were a lot of weird plants and there was even a cabin.

I walked towards one of the big flowers in the middle of the room and Monokuma appeared. He told me not to touch it because it was poisonous and it was his favorite. Apparently, it's named after him…

I looked around and found a control panel for the sprinklers. Apparently, it turns on every morning at 7 am.

Next to the control panel, there was a chicken coop with real chickens. Zelda gushed over how cute they were but I knew the truth.

_Chickens are not nice, they're scary._

After looking at all the plants, I went to the cabin. It was filled with tools and gardening equipment. There even was a pickaxe with 'crazy diamond' written on it.

_Wasn't that someone's stand?_

There wasn't anything more to see, so Zelda and I returned to the cafeteria.

* * *

Once everyone gathered in the cafeteria, we started discussing our findings. For the most part, we had discovered the same things.

"Hey, guys. Did you realize that this floor is different from the others?" Kirby asked.

"Well, duh," Jigglypuff grinned, "It had a weird bloody classroom."

"I think he meant that it didn't have any staircases," Samus answered.

"That means that is the last floor,' I added.

"But what about the classroom? It's clear multiple people died there!" Jigglypuff insisted.

"Maybe that's why the school had to close. Kirby, do you remember the letter we found?" I asked Kirby.

"Yeah! I guess that room could explain the reason it had to shut down."

"In Pikachu's notes, a paragraph talks about this incident called 'The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History' which was responsible for shutting down the school."

"But wouldn't they have cleaned up the classroom since we're a new class?"

"Yeah… It doesn't make sense. Pikachu's brother attended Hope's Peak a year before us…"

Everyone just looked at us two in confusion, so we decided to the explain everything we knew. After the explanation, a few left and only Luigi, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff and I were still in the cafeteria.

"G-guys! Behind you!" the pink puff screamed.

We all turned around and were faced with a very angry Monokuma.

"Who stole it?" the bear asked full of rage.

Everyone looked at the bear in confusion and he got even angrier. He stomped his way out of the cafeteria muttering something about his 'precious'.

* * *

I ate lunch with Jigglypuff. She asked me to accompany her to the music room to write songs. We wrote a bit before goofing around.

"You remember when I said that I didn't write my own songs?" she asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I want that to not be the case anymore. When we get out, I want to share our experience with the world through music."

"That's a pretty great idea. I'll definitely buy your songs."

"I want to write a song for everyone."

"Will you write one for the mastermind?"

"I guess I could. It would be something about how despair is bad… Maybe an educational song would work. I've never tried that."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"I think I'll write twenty songs. Sixteen for us, students, one for the mastermind, the opening song, the ending and a victory theme."

"Maybe you could try composing when we get out?"

"You're right. I'm more than the Ultimate Singer. There's more to me than singing. I've got to try new things. I think all of us should find something to do together after all of this is over."

"Sounds like a good plan. We'll definitely make it out!" I smiled.

The puff smiled back and we continued writing and composing until dinner time.

* * *

After dinner, I returned to my room to laze around.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong***

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

_Finally bedtime!_

I was about to go to sleep when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and saw Kirby. He asked me to go to the baths with him before they closed.

"I'll cut right to the chase… I stole this key," Kirby said as he showed me a key with a Monokuma on it.

"Where did you get it?"

"I found it in the headmaster's office. It had been unlocked by someone."

"Do you think Ness unlocked it?"

"I don't know. But whoever did has my thanks."

"How did you avoid capture?"

"I don't know… Maybe the mastermind was busy talking to someone or in the toilet."

_But if there are two masterminds… Couldn't one look while the other was busy? Wait never mind, one of them is a student. They probably couldn't monitor everyone._

"When I was in the headmaster's office," the puff started, "I also found files about the other students and even some teachers."

"Did you find anything about an Ultimate Ruler? Pikachu wrote that they were our homeroom teacher."

"I think I saw something like that but I didn't think anything of it. I could check again if you distract the mastermind for me."

_This is risky, but if we succeed… We'll be able to find out more about this school. I think it's a risky move but it's not against the school rules. Either way, it'll allow me to confirm a suspicion I'm feeling. I think something happened to the mastermind controlling Crazy Hand._

"All right, let's do it now."

* * *

A few minutes later, I called Monokuma and Crazy Hand but only the bear appeared.

"If it isn't my favorite student, Link!"

"You mentioned someone stealing your precious treasure. What is it?"

"My heart of course!"

"W-what?"

"Upupupu! I won't tell ya!"

We bickered for ten minutes until Monokuma decided to leave screaming. I hoped for the best and returned to my room to sleep.

* * *

It was the middle of autumn and I was exiting the school. I was having a conversation with someone… the same person as before…

"I'm totally going to invite… and… over!" the person said with a joyful voice.

I could deduce that they were talking about their friends but I couldn't hear their names. It was as though they were being censored.

"Are you inviting… over for Halloween? I bet you are," the person teased.

I felt my cheeks blush but I didn't know why. I nodded afterward and continued walking with the person.

Was this a memory or something?

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7 am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I groaned as I woke up and made my way to the cafeteria.

* * *

Almost everyone was in the cafeteria before me. Samus complained about me being late while I ate my breakfast. Kirby was the only one missing and I worried that something might have happened to him.

"Hey, where's Kirby?" Monokuma asked appearing out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't you know that?" Cloud answered annoying the bear.

"The little ball disappeared!" the bear screamed before disappearing.

"He's probably messing with us."

"Maybe he escaped all by himself!" Jigglypuff yelled.

"Nothing we can do. If Monokuma can't find him, I doubt we can."

_He must have succeeded in not getting caught. Could it be that something really has happened to the mastermind controlling Crazy Hand?_

* * *

Cloud asked me if I wanted to hang out with him and I said yes. We went to the art room to get some paint and then made our way to the dojo. We painted Monokumas on the targets and shot arrows at them. It felt really satisfying to shoot the bear.

"Hey, what are you planning on doing when we get out?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know… I think I'll look for my family. I might also do some research on this school. What about you?"

"I'll look for my friends. After that, I'll probably go back to working as a mercenary. I really don't want to see this school ever again."

"Yeah… On the first day of school, someone told me to stop staring at the school because I'd hate it after a week."

"Really? Who told you that?"

"I can't remember. Maybe I could look for them when we're out."

"You could. We really need to get out of here. Who knows how long we've been in this school. I really don't want to have to catch up on too many things."

"What do you have to catch up?"

"News, games, anime… Missing one week is bad enough, think about how much time a month would take to catch up. Plus all the work I have to do. I won't even have time to take a break."

"You're actually making it seem better to stay here…"

"You're really weird. Hey, is that Captain Falcon?"

Cloud pointed towards the entrance where Captain Falcon was standing. He was holding a plate with some badly made sandwiches. The three of us ate together and broke the Monokuma targets.

* * *

We went down to the cafeteria to eat dessert with everyone else. After that Captain Falcon walked towards me with a bag of cookies.

"This is us," he said pointing some small cookies, "And those two are Monokuma and Crazy Hand."

The driver stuffed the two big cookies he was pointing out into his mouth.

"And that's what they'll be soon! Gone and we will be free!" he smiled.

"I can't wait for that day!"

"Me neither. It's probably going to be the best day of my life!"

"Probably?"

"The best day will be the day Samus will say she loves me!"

_I don't think that day will ever happen…_

"What are you going to do when we're free?" I asked.

"I think I'm going to drive around the world. Maybe do some bounty hunting on the side."

"It seems like everyone wants to go to their previous normal lives."

"Well, this school kinda ruined them. I don't think anyone wants to ever come back to Hope's Peak."

"True… I should ask if I can move to Twilight or Toon's house. Maybe Wild's place would be nice since he's a good cook."

"You should invite me over! I need to thank the Twilight guy!"

"Uh sure… I think you'd get along once he opens up to you."

We ended up talking and playing some games until dinner time.

* * *

***Bing Bong Ding Dong***

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

I returned to my room to sleep.

* * *

It was winter. The school was decorated with Christmas decorations and I was feeling happy. Next to me, the mysterious person was standing next to me and waving at a group of people. They turned around to face me and started talking about visiting their family for the holidays.

"It's gonna be so fun. This year it's at… place. … better not be there. I keep telling … his catchphrase. I'm totally hated by … because of it! We still hang out all the time, though."

What are they talking about? I feel like I've heard that story before…

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I woke up feeling very lazy.

* * *

Luigi made breakfast for everyone. After breakfast, he asked me if we could hang out.

We went to the greenhouse to look at the plants. Luigi taught me which ones were herbs that he often used when cooking.

"I hope we get-a out-a soon," the Italian sighed.

"Same here. You're going to spread your brother's and Ness' legacies, right?"

"No, I'll-a spread-a everyone's-a legacy."

"I can't wait to see you succeed."

"Thanks. I don't-a know if I'll-a manage. I still-a cry over everyone's-a deaths before-a falling asleep."

"That's alright. It takes time for people to get over some things."

"But everyone seems-a fine. I feel like I'm-a the only weak-a person left. Everyone else is so-a strong."

"You're not weak, Luigi. I'm sure everyone has been affected by all the deaths. They're probably hiding their true feelings. I think they've understood that the mastermind likes seeing us despair, so they're refusing to please the mastermind. Once we're out, I'm sure they'll all break into tears and you'll be the one comforting them."

"You really-a think that?"

"You're the Ultimate Little Brother, helping people is in your nature."

"You're-a right! When we're-a out and everyone's-a crying, I'll-a be there to-a support them and that includes you."

"M-me?"

"I'm-a sure you'll be-a crying the most. Let's-a go make lunch for-a the others!"

* * *

The two of us made lunch together and called the others to eat. After lunch, I hung out with Samus. We had some deep discussions.

"You know, I became a bounty hunter for revenge," the blonde sighed, "Someone called Ridley killed my parents and I wanted to catch him."

"That's why you became a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah, it's pretty selfish. But as time went on, I started to find joy in helping others. I'm going to make sure the mastermind doesn't win."

"Same here, he can't get away with what he's done."

"Are you going to do some puzzle solving when we get out?"

"I want to solve the mystery of this school, so I guess there's that."

"I think I can give you my five weird statements I got before."

"You want to give them to me?"

"Yes, if there's anyone that can solve the mystery of this school, it's you."

Samus gave me her statements and I read them out loud.

"Ultimate Despair turned five who turned one who turned the losers' school. The despair video turned even more into despair. Sixteen hopes are stuck with fifteen despairs. We are the most famous people on Earth. The virus will start a new game."

"See, they're really weird."

"I feel like these aren't something we need right now. It seems like they're for when we get out."

"The mastermind truly is weird. Let's go eat dinner."

* * *

After dinner, I went back to my room.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong***

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

I fell asleep quickly once I got in bed.

* * *

Spring was in full bloom. The trees in front of the school were in full bloom and there were pink petals everywhere. I was walking with the same person… Were we best friends, related or something?

"Have you noticed some people acting weird?" they asked.

The change of tone caught me completely off guard.

"There's like a sect in the school next to ours. They apparently worship despair and … or something like that. Rumors say that the entire student council got killed and that the school is lying about them going overseas. It's been referred to as Hope's Peak Academy's biggest, most awful event."

_Wait… Did they just say…_

* * *

" **Everyone to the gym!"**

_And just before I was getting to the most interesting part…_

Everyone, including Kirby, was in the gym. A minute passed by before Crazy Hand made his grand entrance. He was laughing maniacally for some reason.

"It's time for the new motive!"

"What!?" we all shouted in unison.

"A new motive. It's quite simple. No sleep until someone is killed!"

"What happens if someone falls asleep?" I asked.

"They'll be executed. So hurry up if you don't want to die from sleep deprivation!" the hand laughed before disappearing.

"No sleep? Crazy Hand wants us to kill out of complete despair!" Jigglypuff complained.

"He's making sure that someone definitely dies," Samus grunted.

"I hate to say this but… the mastermind is extremely smart," Cloud started, "He's managed to make someone kill every time he gave a new motive. It's as though he already knew all our weaknesses."

"I think he's running out of weaknesses…" I said.

"What makes you think that?" Zelda asked.

"None of us were tempted by the previous motives and now the mastermind is giving us a motive that anyone could be tempted by."

"So-a the mastermind has-a resorted to-a using our-a need to-a sleep against-a us. Even if-a someone tries to avoid-a sleeping, they'll eventually go-a insane…" Luigi replied.

* * *

After the shocking meeting, Kirby asked me to spend some time with him.

We were once again in the computer room watching videos.

"I really enjoy watching these funny videos," the pink puff smiled, "It's our only entertainment."

"Yeah, but I think they will get boring if we spend more time here."

"That's why we need to get out! We're going to die of boredom in here. No one wants to kill, anyway."

"True. Are you going to search for your talent when you get out?"

"Nope! This school can burn down for all I care. My talent doesn't define me anyways. I'll probably go looking for my dad and go to a normal high school."

"That sounds nice."

"Want to know a secret about my dad?"

"Sure."

"He created Super Bash Sisters!"

"I love that game!"

"I know right! I want to work at his company in the future. I want to make his game even better for everyone. My dad really hates the competitive fan base."

"They can be annoying."

"Yeah, but they're still fans of SBS. Casual or hardcore, they're all united by a love for SBS. And if my dad doesn't let me join… I'll make a copy name Super Smash Brothers."

_Something about that names sounds wrong…_

Kirby was feeling hungry, so I took him to the cafeteria for lunch.

* * *

After lunch, I saw Zelda alone and decided to hang out with her. She showed me some card tricks and we talked about magic.

"My favorite magic trick is when it looks like someone was cut. It always fascinated me as a child. I couldn't understand how the person was still alive," Zelda explained.

"How do they do it? I've never quite understood."

"It's a bit complicated… I would show you but the school doesn't have the right equipment."

"It's okay."

"I could teach you some simpler magic tricks."

"Sure, that seems fun."

Zelda taught me some magic tricks all though I had some trouble recreating them.

"It really is harder than it looks. You make it seem so easy," I smiled.

"Well, I do have years of experience. Do you think anyone in your family would be able to perform any magic tricks?"

"Maybe… Twilight would either perform it perfectly or so bad that the house somehow ends up on fire. Toon would probably rage quit and destroy the house out of anger."

"I don't know which one would be worse," the princess giggled, "How about we do a mini magic show?"

"Yeah, that seems fun."

"All right let's practice and then we can show everyone."

We practiced together for a few hours before showing everyone. Even Monokuma attended the show but we just ignored him.

* * *

Luigi made dinner for everyone and we ate before the despair-inducing nighttime announcement was played.

***Bing Bong Ding Dong***

" **This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, night time has officially begun. The storage room and the baths will be locked shortly. Good night and sweet dreams!"**

No one knew what to do so we just stayed playing games and talking. Zelda made us some coffee to help us all stay awake. Luigi decided to wash all the dishes by hand to keep himself occupied and once everyone was done drinking the coffee he washed our mugs.

"That was gross… Why don't they have sweet energy drinks instead?" Captain Falcon complained.

"Who cares about that? I just want to sleep!" Kirby whined.

"Maybe if we all fall asleep at the exact time, the mastermind won't kill us because it would be boring for him!" Jigglypuff grinned.

"You're right! How would the mastermind even know if we're awake or not?"

_Because one of us is the mastermind…_

Hours passed and we were barely awake. We were playing an insanely long game of Monokumapoly when everything went dark.

* * *

It was dark. I heard a voice but it wasn't the mysterious person's. They weren't present anymore. It was a voice even more familiar than theirs. It was mine.

"I understand… We need to stay in this school. Leaving is futile. We need to stay to keep Hope alive. We must stay here until it all ends… Once it ends, we can all bring back hope."

_What? What was I saying? I need to stay until 'it' ends?_

* * *

***Ding Dong Bing Bong***

" **It is now 7am. As such, it is officially daytime! Time to wake up and have a beautiful day."**

I wasn't in the cafeteria anymore. I was in my bed still alive. I had just woken up. A question rushed through my mind: how was I still alive?

I ran to the cafeteria to see if anyone was there. Jigglypuff and Captain Falcon were screaming about how they got to sleep and high-fived each other.

I asked them if they knew where the others were and they pointed towards Cloud and Kirby dismantling… a Monokuma?

"What are you two doing?" I asked.

"We're looking at this Monokuma," Cloud started, "It stopped moving."

"It doesn't seem to have any problems in its hardware. The mastermind must have stopped controlling it… Or maybe there was a wifi or Bluetooth problem," Kirby smiled.

"There's a bomb. It's off."

"This Monokuma is really well built."

"Anyway… Do you guys know what happened?" I asked the two.

They nodded and continued looking at the robot.

Jigglypuff ran towards me and told me she had an idea.

"Guys! We should break into the headmaster's office!"

"A-are you sure? Wouldn't the mastermind punish us?" I stuttered.

"Yes! It's the only way we'll find an answer. As you see, Monokuma isn't working, we're still alive and Crazy Hand doesn't do shit anymore!"

The five of us discussed for a few minutes before heading to the fourth floor.

* * *

We arrived in front of the headmaster's door but it was locked.

"It's locked. We need a tool to break it down," Jigglypuff puffed.

"There were many tools in the greenhouse. We can check there," I told her.

"To the greenhouse!" she ordered.

* * *

We went to the greenhouse on the fifth floor, but when we entered… We were met with an undesired surprise: the smell of ash. We looked for the source of the smell and found it.

When I looked, I felt despair surround me.

Zelda had been burnt to a crisp and she was lying on a pool of her own blood. Her upper body was unrecognizable and only a small part of her purple dress remained untouched.

"Z-Zelda's dead?" was the only thing I could say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I can get the Deadly Life and the Trial up by Sunday.


	17. Chapter 5 - Despair Junk - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link must investigate Zelda's murder. During the investigation, he discovers a shocking revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on fire this week.

The five of us stared at Zelda's body in confusion. Shouldn't the dead body announcement be playing?

"Hey, there's a weird key here!" Kirby pointed out before picking up a blue key.

"We should try looking for what door it opens," Cloud suggested.

"Aren't we supposed to investigate Zelda's murder?" Jigglypuff asked.

"If there's no announcement, there's no need."

* * *

We tried opening all the locked doors we could find in the school. In the end, we managed to open the data processing room.

When we entered, we saw many screens and a Monokuma door. On the screens, we could see every room in the school. It seemed we were in the surveillance room.

"Hey, there are Samus and Luigi. They're still sleeping," Jigglypuff giggled.

"I think this is the mastermind's lair," Cloud said.

"Yeah, in here they can see everything that's happening," I agreed.

"We should search for clues in here," Kirby suggested.

We looked around the room and found many computers. We couldn't access any because they were all password-protected. We eventually found what appeared to be a TV with an antenna.

"We need to turn the TV on! I want to know what's going on outside!" Jigglypuff shouted.

Kirby went to fix the TV and after about a minute, he got the TV to work. When the TV turned on, we didn't see a normal channel. Instead, the TV was showing footage of us in the data processing room. We assumed that the mastermind had connected the cameras with the TV, so we tried changing the channels and settings. But that same clip kept appearing as though it was the only footage available on any channel.

"Maybe the TV is broken…" Jigglypuff sighed.

"Do you think I would own a broken TV?"

"M-Monokuma! What are you doing here?"

"I live here! Upupupu!"

"If it's not broken, what's wrong with it?" Kirby asked.

"I can't tell you everything, Ball."

"Ball?"

"I'll be nice today! The TV is not broken at all and it is definitely picking up signals with the antenna."

"What are you talking about? It makes no sense!" Captain Falcon complained.

"This killing game is being broadcasted live on TV everywhere!"

We were all silent after his revelation. We stared at the bear in disbelief before he repeated himself and started complaining.

"You guys thought I'd just keep this game to myself… What would be the point? I needed to share this with the world. I even created a new genre: despair entertainment. We're the most watched show right now. I hijacked the airwaves so that we're the only show anyone can watch! But enough chatting, it's time for the usual!"

" **A body has been discovered! A body has been discovered! The trial will commence soon."**

"Here's the Crazy File, I wish you guys good luck! We're gonna be on fire tonight!"

Monokuma left us confused in the room. We didn't know what to do with the new information we had gotten. We couldn't move until Captain Falcon broke the silence.

"W-we need to investigate. W-we can't let despair entertainment win," the driver stuttered.

"You're right!" Jigglypuff admitted, "I'll go wake up Samus and Luigi. You guys should go investigate."

* * *

Jigglypuff went back to the dorms and the rest of us went back to the greenhouse.

**Zelda died during the night. She was burnt to death. She also received some bashes to the head.**

After reading the Crazy File, I looked at Zelda's body. She was lying on a pool of blood.

**Truth Bullet #2 There's a pool of blood. It seems to have originated from her head.**

There didn't seem to be anything else of use as her body was completely burnt.

I continued looking around the greenhouse and I looked at the sprinklers' control panel. It said that the sprinklers activated at 7 am.

**Truth Bullet #3 The sprinklers activate every morning at 7 am.**

"Hey, guys! I found blood in the cabin!" Captain Falcon shouted.

We all entered the cabin and saw the 'crazy diamond' pickaxe with some blood on it.

**Truth Bullet #4 The pickaxe has some blood on it.**

"Has anyone found anything else?" Kirby asked and we all nodded.

"I think we should go back to the data processing room," I told them.

* * *

On our way down, we found Jigglypuff, Luigi, and Samus. Jigglypuff had explained to them what Monokuma had revealed.

In the data processing room, we found something unexpected. In an isolated corner, there were dry blood splatters. Samus told us that they seemed to be a few days old.

**Truth Bullet #5 There are blood splatters that appear to be a few days old.**

"I found something interesting! They're prerecorded messages," Kirby announced, "I jumped on top of the keyboard and unlocked this computer!"

"Can you access other things?" I asked.

"No, everything is password protected…"

We listened to the recordings, they were the announcements and some of Monokuma and Crazy Hand's lines.

**Truth Bullet #6 There is a computer with prerecorded audio.**

Before leaving the room, I made sure to write down that there was a TV broadcasting the killing game.

**Truth Bullet #7 A TV is broadcasting the killing game to the world.**

I looked at the Crazy File and wondered what could have been used to bash Zelda's head. An idea struck me and I rushed to the dojo.

* * *

I found a broken kendo sword. Maybe the killer used it…

**Truth Bullet #8 There is a broken kendo sword in the dojo.**

I took a closer look at the sword and found some strands of brown hair on it.

**Truth Bullet #9 There are strands of brown hair on the sword.**

* * *

I went down to the cafeteria and saw everyone else. I looked around and found a strange box. On closer inspection, it was a box full of sleeping pills all though some had been used. The label on the box said they took 6 hours to activate.

**Truth Bullet #10 A box of sleeping pills was found in the cafeteria. They take 6 hours to activate and some have been taken.**

I looked at the remains of the dismantled Monokuma and decided it was worth writing down.

**Truth Bullet #11 Monokuma is a controlled robot. The Monokuma in the cafeteria stopped moving for some reason.**

"Something's missing…" Samus sighed.

"What-a is?" Luigi asked.

"The Monokumapoly game is missing. It's not in here anymore. I'd understand if someone cleaned it up…"

_Maybe I should ask the others if they've seen it._

I asked Jigglypuff, Cloud, Captain Falcon and Kirby if they had seen the game but they just seemed shocked at the fact that it was missing.

**Truth Bullet #12 The Monokumapoly game is missing. No one knows where it is.**

I thought about where to investigate next but the world had other plans for me.

***Ding Dong Ding Dong***

" **Time for the class trial, you brats! The audience is waiting impatiently to see you guys!"**

_Why does it feel as though we didn't have as much time as we usually do?_

* * *

We were standing in front of the elevator waiting for Monokuma. Ten minutes passed and he still wasn't there. We were confused by his absence.

"Maybe he forgot the trial," Captain Falcon hoped.

"He never forgets the trial. He's obsessed with it!" Cloud complained.

"This elevator sucks ass," Monokuma whined as he exited the elevator, "Someone's messed with it! Or maybe it's getting old… Upupupu! Anyways, get in losers, we're going to a trial!"

I stepped into the elevator and was followed by the rest of the class. We all stood in silence as the elevator went down. I could feel the fear rising but I kept it repressed.

After a short while, the dark elevator was engulfed by a bright light. Not the light of Hope but the light of despair.

The trial ground had been redesigned. The walls looked like a sky with broken clock towers and a moon drawn on it.

"We have been waiting," Crazy Hand laughed, "Let's get straight into action!"

Everyone took their usual seats and mentally prepared themselves for the upcoming trial.

And so began the fifth trial. Our most confusing trial to date. The one with the weirdest conclusion of all. The one that made us feel hope before crushing us with despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed,
> 
> See you next chapter.


	18. Chapter 5 - Despair Junk - Class Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class trial begins and ends with a twist and big reveals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The class trial is like only half the chapter lol

"Let's start with an explanation of the class trial," Monokuma started, "During the trial, you will present arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, only the blackened will be punished and you will continue living your normal life here. But if you pick wrong, I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will be allowed to graduate."

_I guess it makes sense now why he always says that..._

"We should start by discussing who could be the killer," Samus suggested.

"Well, we discovered Zelda's body a bit after 7 am," Jigglypuff recalled.

"But if she died during the night, it could still be anyone."

"There's got to be a way to narrow down the suspects. There must be a reason the killer decided to kill her and not someone else."

"Seeing as how the motive didn't target anyone in particular, the killer couldn't have chosen randomly," Cloud noted.

"Maybe it's because she made coffee and the killer hated coffee!" Captain Falcon shouted.

"Luigi, you cleaned the mugs. Did everyone drink the coffee?" I asked.

"Y-yes, all-a though somebody could-a have thrown it-a out…"

"But no one would have any reason to do that,"

"Unless they-a were the killer,"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you-a see the box?"

_He must be talking about the sleeping pills…_

"Yes, the one with sleeping pills."

"I-a think the killer put some in-a the coffee."

"But Zelda made the coffee. When would the killer have had time to put pills in it?"

"I know!" Jigglypuff smiled, "Luigi could have put them."

"No, he wouldn't be able to either."

_It can only be one person…_

"It must have been Zelda."

"Zelda? But why?" Kirby asked.

"I'm not sure… Maybe she wanted to save us or something."

"She could have committed suicide. She drugged us so that we didn't see her go. She then set herself on fire in the garden. Case closed," Jigglypuff concluded.

_That can't be possible… There's evidence proving otherwise._

"No, that's wrong!" I shouted, "The Crazy File states that she received bashes to her head. How would she bash her own head?"

"With a wall or maybe the ground. That would explain the blood."

"Even so, with that amount of blood loss, she'd already be dead. The Crazy File says that she was burnt to death."

"Maybe she burnt herself at the same time?"

"But how would you explain her body being dry?"

"What?"

"It was just a bit after 7 am when we discovered her body. The sprinklers are set to activate at 7 am every morning. However, her body wasn't wet. She died at night, so someone must have moved her after 7 am."

"That leaves us with only two suspects," Cloud sighed, "The killer is Samus or Luigi."

"But that still doesn't answer why Zelda put sleeping pills in the coffee," Kirby complained.

"Maybe she was trying to kill someone. She probably didn't put any pills in her coffee."

"And she might have taken the wrong mug. The killer must have had the mug without any pills. They probably got mad, noticed her plan and decided to kill her."

"Doesn't change the fact that it's either Samus or Luigi, the rest of us all have alibis," Jigglypuff reminded everyone.

"But where did the killer kill Zelda?" Samus asked.

_I think I know where…_

"It must have been in the data processing room. There were some blood splatters on the floor."

"But how did the killer get in there? We only managed to go in thanks to- Do you think the killer stole the key?" Kirby asked.

"I don't know. Either the killer or Zelda must have found the key… Or Monokuma could have left the door open and planted the key later to fool us."

"Link, how rude of you! You dare insult Monokuma," Crazy Hand laughed.

"..."

"..."

"Anyway, the killer must have used something to bash her head."

"But why? If Zelda was asleep, they wouldn't have any reason to," Cloud said.

"Maybe she was-a also awake? Maybe she didn't-a drug two-a coffees?" Luigi suggested.

"So the killer used the pickaxe to knock her out! It was covered in blood after all!" Captain Falcon remembered.

"No, that would have killed her," Samus glared.

_It must have been the broken sword…_

"I found a broken wooden sword in the dojo. It could have been used to knock her out without killing her."

"It's not impossible," Cloud agreed, "Was there anything special about the sword?"

"It had some strands of brown hair on it."

"Luigi, I am disappointed," Jigglypuff puffed.

"B-but!"

"It's not necessarily his hair," I defended the Italian.

"He's-a right. Blonds tend to-a have a few-a brown-a hairs. It-a belongs to either-a Samus or-a Zelda."

"We can't be sure for now, Luigi. We should focus on the sword."

"But what about the pickaxe?" Kirby asked.

_It's not impossible for it to have been used._

"The killer used it after burning her. There was a huge pool of blood in the greenhouse. The killer could have used the pickaxe to trick us into believing she died in there."

"But what about the missing game? What happened to it?" Samus wondered.

"She's right! Why would the killer put the game away if they were busy killing Zelda?" Jigglypuff giggled.

_There's no reason… We never found the game… Unless the killer is trying to trick us… Or maybe…_

"Since they were in the data processing room, couldn't the killer have controlled Monokuma or Crazy Hand and get them to clean up the game?"

"There's still no reason…" Kirby sighed.

"There is one."

"There is?" Captain Falcon asked.

"Yes, to make us waste time during the trial. We now know we're being broadcasted on TV. The killer must have discovered that when they saw the TV in the data processing room. They could have thought that if they made a distraction to makes us waste time, the trial would drag on while the audience got bored. That would force the mastermind to end the trial and make us vote randomly. With that plan, the killer would be able to get away with murder."

"Quite the long explanation, don't you think?" Crazy Hand taunted.

"Upupupu!"

"But if that's the case, how did the killer manage to control one of them?" Samus asked.

"Maybe they asked Crazy Hand or Monokuma," Kirby answered.

"But then, who's the killer? Besides our missing alibis, there isn't anything suggesting that it was Luigi or I who killed her. If the killer could managed to get one of the robots to clean up a game, I'm sure they could have gotten one of them to move the body."

"If we go by the hairs… It could belong to either Link, Cloud, Samus, Zelda, Luigi or Captain Falcon."

"If that's the case, I think we can rule out Captain Falcon and Link. Link was the only one to go to the dojo and it wouldn't benefit him to mention the sword and hairs. As for Captain Falcon, he's too much of an idiot to come up with a complicated plan."

"Thank you!" the driver grinned as everyone facepalmed.

"Moving on, do you remember how long the hairs were, Link?"

"The longest one was around the same length as my hand. The shortest one was around an inch."

"But for all we know, the hair might not necessarily belong to only one person," Jigglypuff smiled.

"Maybe the long hair belongs to Samus, Cloud or Zelda and the short one to Luigi or Captain Falcon."

"But if that's the case, we can rule out Captain Falcon… And since there's a short hair, it has to be Luigi's!"

"It could belong to someone else," Kirby suggested, "One of Link's statements said that the mastermind has blond hair. Maybe that's the case and the hairs belong to them."

"That can't be possible," Cloud replied, "How would they control Monokuma and Crazy Hand?"

"Hm… Well, you all have alibis for that…"

"But what about the prerecorded messages?" Jigglypuff remembered, "It has to be one of the blonds. That means either Link, Cloud or Samus is the mastermind."

"It can't be Link or I. We didn't have any time to control Monokuma or Crazy Hand to move Zelda's body. You were with us the whole morning," Cloud said.

"Samus, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"We can't trust the statement. We don't have any proof it's true. If anything, the most likely truth would be Class 63 meeting the mastermind or Kirby lying about his talent."

"But we never know…"

_It was quite some time ago but…_

"Jigglypuff which of your statements do you think was true?"

"Monokuma and Master Hand are controlled by different people… It all makes sense! T-there's more than one mastermind… So Link's statement can't be true…"

"But if there are two masterminds… Who are they?" Kirby asked.

"One of them is a student and the other is a teacher. The teacher is likely the one controlling Crazy Hand while the student prerecorded most of Monokuma's lines," I theorized, "They most likely prepare lines for multiple possible scenarios and use some kind of filter to modify their voices. Pikachu wrote that our homeroom teacher was supposed to be the Ultimate Ruler. It wouldn't be impossible for them to be the mastermind."

"Calling me an Ultimate? Oh, you flatter me, Link!" the crazy hand laughed.

"But which one of them is the killer?" Captain Falcon asked.

"I think it's likely the one controlling Crazy Hand. Crazy Hand has been acting weird lately. If the lines are scripted, it would be possible for Crazy Hand's controller to control Monokuma to make it seem like the other mastermind did it," I explained, "I think it's likely that Zelda did intend to drug everyone except herself. This means that the student wouldn't be able to control Monokuma, so the teacher took control instead."

"So, you're-a saying that-a the killer is-a the person behind-a Crazy Hand?"

"Yes, so unless the student and teacher swapped places and forged all the documents, it's likely the teacher."

"Doesn't matter because time's up!" Crazy Hand announced.

"T-time's up?"

"Yes, Link. TIME IS UP! It's time to vote."

_Wait… But we didn't even determine who the mastermind was how am I supposed to vote for someone?_

I looked down at my lever and noticed something new. There was an option to vote for Crazy Hand and by the look on the others' faces, they also had that option. I voted for Crazy Hand and awaited the resulted.

"Y-you… You all voted for me?" the hand stuttered, "Which of you little fucks modified my trial room?"

No one answered and the hand started laughing hysterically. Laughter was the only sound we could hear until the hand calmed down.

"Fine! I guess I'll have to punish someone randomly. Monokuma! Bring my hammer," the hand ordered.

The bear ran towards the hand with the hammer and was ordered to hit a red button with it.

"It's punishment time!" the hand laughed.

A chain fell from the ceiling as the hand laughed.

"Which one of you is going to die first?"

"H-he's actually going to go through with this?" Cloud stuttered.

"B-but… If we were-a wrong… Wouldn't he-a execute us?"

"Maybe we were right and he's angry at us!" Jigglypuff screamed.

We all stood in fear of what was going to happen next.

* * *

The chain is swung around the room by Crazy Hand. He throws it in the air expecting it to land on a random student but something blocks it and it lands on him instead. Monokuma hits the red button and the hand is transported to a stage surrounded by a dark sky and stars. Multiple Monokumas disguised as fighters jump from above and land on the stage ready to fight.

**Final Destination**

Crazy Hand attempts to escape but the Monokumas jump and hit him. The hand in an attempt to defend itself starts slamming himself against the stage to destroy the Monokumas. Nonetheless, more Monokumas keep appearing. Crazy Hand starts shooting lasers but the Monokumas don't stop fighting. Crazy Hand ends up surrounded by a herd of Monokumas. They all jump on the hand and punch it with a lot of force. The hand starts cracking but manages to shake off all the Monokumas. A Monokuma holding a bomb appears and laughs. It throws the bomb on the hand. The hand lets out a scream before exploding. Only scraps of metal are left. The stage disappears and the few remaining scraps fall into nothingness.

* * *

"Damn you bastards…" Monokuma groaned, "Which one of you little fucks messed up the execution?"

No one answered and the bear got angrier by the second. Eventually, he calmed down.

"Upupupu! You guys were correct! Master Hand did kill Zelda! You've managed to get one of the masterminds executed."

"But we don't even know their true identity," I said.

"Well… Why don't you guys go check for yourself?"

Monokuma pressed a red button and everyone was transported to a new room before the floor underneath collapsed and we all fell.

* * *

It was the end of summer and I was standing in front of Hope's Peak Academy. Many people were making their way to the school. They were students and parents, but all of their faces were blurred.

"Hey, stop staring," a voice coming from behind me laughed, "You're going to hate looking at it in a week."

I turned around to see who was talking to me but all I saw was a blurry face. Despite that, I felt like I knew the person talking to me.

_Wait didn't this happen before?_

* * *

It was the middle of autumn and I was exiting the school. I was having a conversation with someone… the same person as before. But this time, I could make out more features. I was with a teenager around my age with short dirty blond hair.

"I'm totally going to invite Marth and Roy over!" the person said with a joyful voice.

_Marth and Roy? Are those their friends? Why can I suddenly hear names?_

"Are you inviting Zelda over for Halloween? I bet you are," the person teased.

I blushed an nodded.

_Wait, what are they talking about? This doesn't make sense._

* * *

It was winter. The school was decorated with Christmas decorations and I was feeling happy. Next to me, the mysterious person was standing next to me and waving at a group of people. They turned around to face me and started talking about visiting their family for the holidays.

"It's gonna be so fun. This year it's at Toon's place. Dick better not be there. I keep telling Marth his catchphrase. I'm totally hated by him because of it! We still hang out all the time, though."

The voice had changed… It was much clearer and lower than before.

_It can't be him… When did he start attending Hope's Peak? Wouldn't I be aware of him being in the same school as me?_

* * *

Spring was in full bloom. The trees in front of the school were in full bloom and there were pink petals everywhere. I was walking with Twilight

"Have you noticed some people acting weird?" he asked, "There's like a sect in the school next to ours. They apparently worship despair and a bear mascot called Monokuma, or something like that. Rumors say that the entire student council got killed and that the school is lying about them going overseas. It's been referred to as Hope's Peak Academy's biggest, most awful event."

"Why would the school do something like that?" I laughed.

"... It's not the first time that the school has been acting weird… You do know it was a last minute decision to have me enter the main Hope's Peak branch instead of the Brawl one where Toon is. I even ended up being given a different talent and having to move in with you… My luck really sucks…"

"I'm pretty sure it's just some weird conspiracy theory. Maybe your class is playing a prank on you. No offense but you class is full of weirdos."

"What are you talking about? My class is the most normal class in the world. There is nothing weird about talking animals, crazy rich kids, the class being on fire half the time, me being pushed out of every class photo, kids being traumatized every day and so on."

"That doesn't sound normal."

"It's sarcasm, Time. Let's just go home."

"All right, but don't order me around. I'm older than you."

"Whatever, gramps."

_The conversation was way longer than last time… It's so detailed… Could this really be a memory?_

* * *

It was dark. I could hear myself speaking. I was speaking to someone but I couldn't recognize them or make out any features because of the darkness.

"I understand, teacher. We need to stay in this school. Leaving is futile. We need to stay to keep Hope alive. We must stay here until it all ends… Once it ends, we can all bring back hope."

_Why would I be speaking to my teacher about staying in the school? W-were they the mastermind?_

* * *

"Link! Liiiiinnnkkkk!"

_Huh?_

"Wake up!"

I opened my eyes and saw Jigglypuff.

We weren't in the trial room anymore. A disgusting smell filled the air. I looked around and saw trash among many scraps of metal. The rest of the class seemed to have woken up before me.

"Why are we in the trash?" Samus asked.

"Monokuma sent us here to check on Crazy Hand's remains," Kirby answered.

"Never mind that, what the hell was that execution?" Cloud shouted.

"..."

"Did you do something?"

"H-hey, he's-a just as-a confused as-a we are."

"Cloud's right. I did do something," Kirby admitted, "It has to do with my talent and memories."

"Do you finally remember them?" Captain Falcon gasped.

"Yeah, I've been having these weird dreams lately."

"You've been having them too?" I asked.

Kirby nodded and everyone admitted to also having dreams of Hope's Peak Academy. It was as though we were all remembering events from the past. As though we all had our memories of the school wiped out.

"How much do you think was wiped out?" Samus wondered.

"I'd say about a year, maybe more for those close to someone attending the school," I guessed.

"That seems right," Kirby agreed, "The reason I couldn't remember my talent was because someone from the school was with me when I received the invitation letter. But that's not all…"

"Why would the masterminds want you to forget your talent?"

"Because I'm the only one in this class with a talent that can stop the executions and the robots."

"So, it was you who messed with the execution and the levers," Cloud confirmed.

"Yes, it was really easy. I also stole the mastermind's key to get into the trial room a few days ago."

"That's why you went missing? To save us?" Jigglypuff smiled.

"Exactly, I didn't want anyone innocent getting executed. As the Ultimate Technician, I'm the only one capable of modifying the executions."

"You're the Ultimate Technician?"

"Yes, my first memory to return was of my father announcing to me that I would be the Ultimate Technician. He was… He was the Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy."

"What!? Is he inside the school?"

"I don't think so… I've been everywhere besides the second floor of the dormitories."

_If I remember well... There were some stairs by the dormitory..._

"So… If we go there, we might be able to find out about the Ultimate Despair…" I said out loud.

"Ultimate-a Despair?"

"Yeah, that's the student mastermind's true talent. They're the one responsible for everything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.  
> Kirby's canonically a skilled technician.  
> Next chapter should be out before the end of June.  
> I'll also reveal the protagonist for the sequel. My ff.net reviewers have spoken.  
> See you next chapter!


	19. Chapter 6 - Despair - Deadly Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A final trial is offered. Link must investigate to figure out the mystery of the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three more chapters left! Next chapter is the mastermind reveal!
> 
> The next story will feature Duck Hunt Duo as the main protagonists with Roy and Marth playing major roles. :)

The room was silent as everyone took in the news about the mastermind's true talent. Jigglypuff was the first to speak up.

"So… Does this mean one of us here is the Ultimate Despair?"

"I'm not sure," I answered, "The mastermind could have faked their death or execution and might be hiding."

"I think we should get out of here before trying to solve this mystery," Kirby sighed.

"He's right," Samus agreed, "I can't stand this disgusting smell."

We all agreed to leave. Kirby took out the Monokuma key and opened a door in the back of the room. We entered another room with a ladder. I was first to start climbing and the others followed soon after.

I felt nervous thoughts fill my head and started climbing faster to ignore them. By the time I had made it to the top, I was out of breath. I looked up and saw a trap door.

I opened it and discovered we were in the garbage disposal room. I helped the others up and started discussing what to do afterwards.

"We should probably go to the gym. That's where the mastermind usually calls us for meetings."

"Link, are you-a crazy? Monokuma will try to kill us!" Luigi yelled.

"I think Link has a good idea," Cloud interrupted, "The mastermind can probably see us right now, anyway. We should go find out what they'll try to do. They probably won't kill us as that would be boring for their show."

"Let's go to the gym!" Captain Falcon cheered.

* * *

When we entered we saw Monokuma shouting.

"You guys are alive! Oh, come on. That fall should have killed you! I am disappointed."

"Look on the bright side, at least you get to feel despair knowing we're alive," Cloud smirked.

"Why do I let you get away with all your shit?" the bear asked facepalming.

"Because it's not murder?" Jigglypuff smiled.

"You kids are getting on my nerves. I'll have to prepare a special punishment for you."

"Wait," I said, "I have a proposal."

"Really? What is it?"

"Let us do another trial."

"What? But no one's been murdered."

"We never figured out Master Hand's true identity. He was a robot, so someone must have been controlling him. I'm sure the audience won't be satisfied otherwise."

"Beary interesting," the bear giggled, "All right, but this will be our final match. You'll have to also solve the entire school's mystery. If you manage that, I'll let everyone go."

"If we don't, you'll execute us all…"

"Right again, Link! We'll see who wins. Your hope or my despair."

"We're not going to lose."

"Despair will destroy you. I'll give you a small hint. During the whole killing game, there have been exactly 16 students and one teacher. You guys can now start! I'll go start my Ultimate Punishment. Upupupu!"

* * *

After the meeting, we left the cafeteria to discuss our next move. Samus suggested we investigate alone since nine students were dead and the mastermind had to be among us. Her proposal made sense so we all agreed to it. Before leaving, Monokuma made an announcement.

" **It's investigation time! To make this game fair, I've unlocked every single door! Good luck!"**

Everyone left to investigate. I decided to write down a list of all the places I had not been into.

**Truth Bullet #1 The headmaster's room, the bio lab, the Monokuma door and the second floor of the dormitory were all locked before.**

* * *

I decided to start with the dormitory. I walked until I found the staircase.

The dormitory was in a terrible state. There was rubble everywhere and most of the rooms were inaccessible.

I eventually found an accessible room but didn't find anything of interest. The room's state was just as bad as the hallway's. The windows had also been covered with metal plates. I really wonder what happened up here…

I looked for more doors and ended up in the locker room. Most of the lockers where broken. I managed to open most of them and found a lot of notebooks. They must have belonged to the students. There wasn't anything special in them.

Before leaving, I noticed that the ones I hadn't managed to open were locked. They had card readers instead of locks. I tried opening one with my e-handbook but nothing happened.

The next room I checked was different from all the previous ones. It was well furnished, almost looking like a little apartment. It doesn't appear to have belonged to a student. I looked around and saw Kirby.

"This was dad's private room," Kirby told me.

"Did he live here?"

"No, we had a house near the area. This was his area to relax or stay in during very busy days. Sometimes he'd work so much that he wouldn't have any energy to come back home."

I continued looking around and found a computer. I turned it on and read some of the documents that were currently open. One of the documents was about the Ultimate Despair.

The document specified that the Ultimate Despair was the title to designate the leader and the Remnants of Despair were the members. It turned out they were responsible for the Tragedy.

**Truth Bullet #2 The Remnants of Despair were a group led by the Ultimate Despair. They were responsible for the Tragedy.**

I looked at the wall and noticed a part of it seemed out of place. I touched that part and noticed it was a door. I pushed it and entered a dark and dusty room.

There was a table with a present box, a desk and a chest of drawers. I opened the present not knowing what to expect.

A paper? I looked at it and noticed it had plans. The plans were for a TV show… The killing game… It specified that the show would end after the sixth trial and that one of the deaths was not what it seemed. Way to be helpful, mastermind…

**Truth Bullet #3 Plans state that the sixth trial will be the last one and that a death was not what it seemed.**

"Do you think someone faked their death?" I asked Kirby.

The pink puff shrugged and looked at the desk. He pulled out an e-handbook and showed it to me.

The e-handbook belonged to the headmaster. I turned it on and looked for instructions. It said that there were only two universal e-handbooks that could be used on any card reader. The other one must have been the one the mastermind gave Cloud.

**Truth Bullet #4 The headmaster's e-handbook is one of only two universal e-handbooks. The other one's current location is unknown.**

"Link, you should keep it. I know you can solve this mystery. You'll need this to open up some things."

I accepted the e-handbook and thanked Kirby.

Before exiting the room, I saw some photos on top of the chest of drawers. They were photos of Kirby with his family. There was one of his first day at Hope's Peak, another one where he was playing games and one at the beach.

**Truth Bullet #5 There are photos of the headmaster with his family living happily.**

I returned to the locker room and opened all of the lockers I could. I ended up finding notebooks belonging to most of my classmates. The only ones without any were Kirby and me.

**Truth Bullet #6 Link and Kirby are the only ones without notebooks in the locker room.**

Among the notebooks, I found a note.

**Despair Walks among us… Not one, but two…**

I recognized the writing as Pikachu's but was baffled as to why he would have written such a statement. Did he know before the Tragedy that there were two Ultimate Despairs? This must be important for the trial…

**Truth Bullet #7 Pikachu wrote a note about there being two despairs.**

* * *

After seeing Pikachu's note, I decided to check out the ones in my room. It took me a little while to finish reading them all, but I managed to find interesting information.

Pikachu had written about everyone's family. He wrote that some of us had family members that resembled us and could easily take our place.

**Link has cousins named Link. It wouldn't be hard for the current Link to not be the one from our class. I'm not sure what they look like so I can't tell if it would work.**

**Zelda also has relatives named Zelda. But like Link, there's no telling if it would work.**

**Kirbies aren't a very diverse species. Kirby could easily swap with someone from the same species.**

**Samus' family is dead. It's unlikely that she'd find someone that looks like her.**

**Jigglypuff could easily swap with another of the same species.**

**Captain Falcon… Couldn't find much about his family but there's little probability that someone resembles him.**

**Yoshi could have swapped with someone of the same species.**

**Ryu's unlikely to have a doppelganger.**

**Fox could have switched with his father as they share a close resemblance.**

**Cloud's family is also dead. He's unlikely to find a doppelganger.**

**Bayonetta was raised in a family of witches, however, they don't have that strong of a resemblance.**

**Mario and Luigi are twins. They wouldn't be able to switch since their bodies are too different and they were both participating at the same time.**

**Ness has a little sister and parents but they wouldn't be able to swap successfully due to a lack of resemblance and big age gap.**

**Donkey Kong has many relatives. He might be able to swap with one.**

Pikachu didn't write about himself… I guess it makes sense since he was looking for the mastermind. The mastermind would have no reason to make this list.

**Truth Bullet #8 Pikachu made a list of which students could swap out with family members.**

The next piece of information was a list of suspects.

**The rooms were all clean after every murder, however, there were strands of what appeared to be blond or brown hair. The lighting and floor color made it difficult to determine. This should narrow down the suspects to Link, Zelda, Samus, Captain Falcon, Fox (if he faked his execution), Cloud, Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong (if he faked his death). It's still possible that another student purposely put the hair in order to trick us.**

Half of the suspects are dead unless they faked their deaths… The executions seemed to real and the deaths weren't the type that could easily be faked. But the hair bit was pretty interesting…

**Truth Bullet #9 After every murder, the crime scene was cleaned and hair could be found.**

I decided to check the crime scene again and just as expected, there was hair that shouldn't be there. I looked at the list of rooms I hadn't been in. The bio lab was on the fifth floor, so I decided to check it out next.

* * *

When I entered, I was met with very cold air. Why was it so cold? I scanned the room and noticed some weird compartment things. Unsure of what they were, I looked for information. I eventually found a brochure explaining the room.

**The body storage unit you have purchased is a device that can simulate a dry and cold environment. The unit is constructed in a way that permits the elimination of ethylene gas. After a body is inserted, a blue light will turn on. The temperature will be regulated automatically, so no knowledge is needed to use the unit. In case of an emergency, a red light will turn on.**

So this is where the dead bodies are stored…

**Truth Bullet #10 The bio lab has been redesigned as a morgue to store the dead bodies.**

I looked at the unit and noticed nine blue lights were on.

**Truth Bullet #11 Nine of the storage units are in use.**

I think I should confirm that there are indeed bodies in there… That would narrow down the suspects.

Holding in my disgust, I checked all the units and found the bodies to be in a similar state except more decayed.

**Truth Bullet #12 All the dead student's bodies are in the morgue.**

I was thinking about which room to visit when I heard an announcement.

" **You guys are doing great! I'm feeling generous so I'll give you a hint. Meet me at the gym. It's not compulsory, so if you don't want to come… Don't come. See you!"**

* * *

Following the announcement, I entered the gym. I was the only one there besides Monokuma.

The bear gave me an envelope and told me to open it. I opened it and pulled out a picture…

It was a class photo with everyone in school uniforms and an unknown person. The person was barely visible and ink had been splattered to hide their identity. I couldn't tell their hair color, gender, species or anything of importance about them… They could be our teacher since everyone else was in it.

**Truth Bullet #13 A group photo of everyone in uniforms has been splattered with ink to hide a seventeenth person.**

I was even more confused than before… But I couldn't let the confusion stop me from finding out more information. I was going to need as much of it as possible if I wanted to uncover the mystery of Hope's Peak.

* * *

My next stop was the data processing room.

When I entered, Jigglypuff ran straight towards me. She begged me to open the Monokuma door since she was scared. I headed towards it while she hid in fear of an explosion or some weird lance execution thing.

I opened the door and nothing happened. I could hear the pink puff sigh in relief. I looked at the new room and deduced that it was a control room. There were big screens and many buttons. There was also a trap door on the floor. I was about to open it when I heard Jigglypuff pressing a button.

I looked at which one she had pressed and saw that "data processing room" was written on it. I returned to the data processing room and a Monokuma appeared.

**Truth Bullet #14 The Monokuma door belongs to a control room. Monokuma and, supposedly, Crazy Hand can be controlled from it.**

I stared at the Monokuma until it suddenly talked.

"Hihihi! I am now the mastermind!"

"J-Jigglypuff?"

"No! I'm Monopuff now and I will press the self-destruct button!"

"You probably shouldn't…"

"Okay…"

I returned to see Jigglypuff and she asked me what I had seen. I explained to her that she was controlling Monokuma and she laughed. While she was laughing, I was figuring out how the masterminds operated. One must have been in the data processing room while the other one was in here… Wait, but one of them was with the students… This is really getting confusing…

I decided to check out the rest of the data processing room to look for clues. I turned on a computer and found the announcement recordings when I was suddenly struck with an epiphany: the nighttime announcement made no sense. It said the storage room was closed at night but Fox entered it before Killing Yoshi…

**Truth Bullet #15 The nighttime announcement states that the storage room is closed at night while in actuality the storage room never closed.**

I checked the room again for traces of blood and noticed they were still present. Jigglypuff looked at them and turned towards me.

"I think Zelda died because of a head wound. Why else would there be blood here?"

"Do you still remember what the crime scene looked like?" I asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, there was a lot of blood but it didn't look burnt. It was fresh…"

"Maybe I should go check her corpse again."

"You looked at her corpse?"

"Yeah, it was in the bio lab. I can show you"

"Eek! Well… If it's for the greater good I suppose so…"

* * *

We entered the bio lab and saw Cloud looking at the corpses in disgust.

"Why would the mastermind keep ashes and bones in here?"

"The mastermind does what!?" Jigglypuff screamed, "Man, they're disgusting like Ephraim would say."

I ignored her weird expression and looked for the storage unit with Zelda's body. Her head didn't look like it had been bashed after her burns…

"She most likely was burnt after being hit on the head. Based on the amount of blood at the crime scene, we can deduce she was killed with the pickaxe," Cloud explained.

"Does that mean the mastermind lied to us about her cause of death?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yeah, it's impossible for the blood to look the way it did if Zelda had been burnt. Plus, there were no ashes on the pickaxe but the blood was present."

"The killer probably used the wooden sword to knock her out before taking her to the greenhouse and killing her with the pickaxe. They must have burnt her afterwards. We didn't find any ashes in the data processing room…" I mumbled to myself while Jigglypuff and Cloud stared in silence.

**Truth Bullet #16 Zelda appears to have been killed with the pickaxe before being burnt.**

* * *

There was only one room left to check. I entered the headmaster's office and was presented with a dusty office. It was messy and there were many pictures and trophies. Papers were scattered all over the floor between two sofas.

I looked at the desk and found a CD in one of the drawers. I inserted it into a laptop that was on the table and watched the movie on it.

At first, the screen was black but suddenly it turned to Yoshi sitting on a sofa. There was someone else but they had been edited out.

"You're going to have to stay here for, possibly, the rest of your life," a heavily edited voice told Yoshi.

"I… I understand."

What was he saying? He accepted that?

I continued watching as the other students were also asked the same question until I saw myself appear on the screen.

"I know… We need to preserve hope… Even if the headmaster's disappeared. I accept this mi-"

Suddenly, the screen turned black. The battery had been drained. I couldn't find a charger but I had seen enough to understand…

**Truth Bullet #17 Everyone was interviewed and asked to stay at Hope's Peak by an unknown person.**

I examined the papers scattered on the floor and noticed they were profiles. The majority belonged to students from other classes. Something they all had in common was that their talent had been wiped out with a black permanent marker. I picked up all the papers and organized them. I checked the teachers first since it was a small stack.

"Palutena something, Dr. Kawashima, Lyn, Robin Lowell, Chrom Lowell… Aw, they're married. How cute… Wait! I can't get distracted. Takamaru, Tingle, Zelda? I'm starting to think there's some kind of family cartel going on… Phosphora, Magnus, Knuckle Joe, Dr. Wright, Girahim, Shigeru, Sakurai, DK Jr, James McCloud, Jumpman, Raichu…"

How come there are so many relatives? There's a cartel going on…

***Ding Dong Ding Dong***

**"I think I've given you more than enough time! With every ending, comes a new beginning. Thus ends investigation time and starts trial time. Go to the red door so that we can get this final school trial started!"**

I didn't have enough time to finish looking at the profiles but hopefully, it was enough.

**Truth Bullet #18 A list of teachers and students was found but the talents were blackened with a marker.**

* * *

I was the first to arrive. Slowly everyone else made their way inside. The room was silent except for Monokuma's laughs.

"Are you shits ready for the final class trial? A battle between hope and despair!"

"You won't lie to us again, right?" Samus glared.

"Lie? Why I would never! All I want to do is show the world that hope sucks and that despair can totally crush it!"

After that statement, the bear left. Captain Falcon was the first to enter and the other soon followed. I stepped into the elevator but unlike the previous time, I didn't feel fear. I felt determination. I couldn't let the mastermind win.

I closed my eyes and recalled everything that had previously happened. All the deaths, the fear, the despair… When I opened them, the elevator had stopped.

I stepped out and saw the newly redesigned trial ground. It was gray, almost like all the decorations had been removed. I then realized that it was meant to be the interior of a castle. In place of windows, there were screens and the lights were shaped like chandeliers. Were did Monokuma get all of these decorations?

"What do you think? Perfect for a final boss battle?" the bear said as he walked towards Yoshi's designated seat, "I'll take Yoshi-boy's seat since he never stepped foot in here and I'm participating this time."

The bear took Yoshi's picture and respectfully placed it on the throne Crazy Hand usually sat on. He then returned to his seat and laughed.

"Upupupu! Let's go!"

It was time for the final trial. The final battle between hope and despair. The battle I couldn't afford to lose!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! We're nearing the end! Three more chapters to go!
> 
> The next chapter will be out in June. Hopefully, I can post it before my birthday on the 6th of June. I got really lucky this year, I have French exams on the 7th. Hopefully, my French Oral exam is on the 12th so that I can have early vacations and more time to write.
> 
> I'm planning on uploading the epilogue of this story and the prologue of the sequel on the same day.
> 
> I'm also trying to figure out a way to make the FTEs more interesting. I think it would be funny to have Duck Hunt try to set up random characters or prank someone. Normally, the protagonist is supposed to get a huge harem but since Duck Hunt are a dog and a duck… Yeah, they don't get any romance. Technically you could get Duck and Falco since they're both birds but I think we can all agree that it would be pretty gross… I'm open to all suggestions!
> 
> See you next chapter!


	20. Chapter 6 - Despair - Class Trial Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final class trial begins. Link and his friends discover the mastermind's true identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a shit ton of dialog. That's what happens when you parody a visual novel.

"It's time for the final trial," Monokuma started, "The rules will be different this time. If you find out who really killed Zelda and solve this school's mystery, you win. If not, I'll win and you will be punished with the most despairing execution."

"If we win… Will you execute yourself?" Samus asked.

"I sure will! Now, who killed Zelda?"

"It was obviously you!" Jigglypuff shouted.

"Moi? How dare you?"

"Ignore him, he's an idiot," Cloud sighed, "We should try to figure out who could be the mastermind."

"It could be anyone in here!" Captain Falcon whined, "There's nothing that proves it isn't one of you!"

"Did you-a guys-a forget? There are-a two masterminds," Luigi reminded everyone.

"In that case," I started, "One of them isn't here."

"But-a why?"

_Monokuma's here, so…_

"Because one of them has to control Monokuma from the control room!"

"I remember!" Jigglypuff gasped, "There was a button to control Monokuma. So, at least one of the masterminds has to be here."

"So where's the other one?" Kirby asked.

"Um… Since ten people died, they must be-"

"No, that's wrong. Crazy Hand was just a robot," I interrupted, "And only nine people died. I checked the biology lab and there were only nine bodies."

"What happened in there?" Captain Falcon asked as everyone sighed.

"The biology lab was redesigned to be a morgue. It has special storage units to store bodies. Currently, only nine are in use."

"But that doesn't change the fact that one of the masterminds has to be among us," Jigglypuff argued.

"Maybe one of them is dead," Samus suggested.

"What? But that wouldn't make any sense!"

"Actually, it would," I told her, "Why else would Crazy Hand stop being relevant? Monokuma and Crazy Hand never spoke at the same time and we did find prerecorded audio. The mastermind behind Crazy Hand has probably been dead for quite a while."

"Well, if that's the case. Someone who already died is one of the masterminds…"

"I guess it would have to be one of the killers. The executions are so crazy! They must be fake or something. Bayonetta's truth was obviously that Ness can't read minds."

"But what if he could actually read minds?" Captain Falcon asked.

"He wouldn't-a tell us if he could…"

"One of the first things he told me was that he couldn't read them. But he could have lied…" I theorized.

"If he could read minds, wouldn't he have found the mastermind's identity? And wouldn't he have solved all the murders before anyone else?" Samus asked.

"That would be the logical thing to do. But what if he didn't know he could read minds?"

"He's a psychic and we have amnesia. He obviously has powers to mess with our minds. He has to be the mastermind."

"I think Link has a point," Kirby admitted, "I didn't know I was the Ultimate Technician until my memories returned, so I never though about doing technical stuff. Maybe Ness forgot he could read minds. In that case, he wouldn't think about trying to read someone's mind."

"That leaves us with Bayonetta's truth being that the executions are real…" I said.

"So who's statements are true?"

"If I remember correctly… The most likely to be true are Zelda's, Cloud's, Jigglypuff's or mine."

_We won't get anywhere like this… Maybe I should change the subject._

"Maybe Pikachu's notes could help us."

I explained to everyone how Pikachu theorized about our families.

"How did he find all of that out?" Captain Falcon asked fascinated.

"I don' know."

"Well, it's very suspicious. How would Pikachu know about there being two masterminds?" Cloud glared.

"It could have just been a theory he had."

"But he knew about our families when we never told him anything about them."

"Cloud's right," Kirby agreed, "He didn't include himself in that list even though he has a family. I think there are two possibilities: Pikachu is the mastermind or the mastermind faked some notes."

_The mastermind faking the notes is more likely… If Pikachu was the mastermind, he wouldn't make such an obvious mistake…_

"I think I know what could have happened! The mastermind faked the notes and purposely made it obvious."

"But what would they-a gain from-a that?"

"We'd assume that the two masterminds aren't related. If it's so obviously fake, we ignore all the truths on it."

"You're right," Samus agreed, "There don't seem to be any mistakes on it. That means that the masterminds must be related. Plus, wouldn't it weird for a teacher and a student to work together?"

"Upupupu! We might be lovers! Or maybe BFFs! Cousins? Siblings… Upupu! We might not be related at all!"

"So, if we figure out who the teacher is. We figure out which student is the mastermind!" Jigglypuff grinned as she ignored Monokuma.

"Yeah, but how will we find out who the teacher is?" Kirby asked.

"I'm not sure but I have a picture and video where the teacher's identity has been hidden," I told them.

"Hey! I also have a photo like that!"

Kirby showed everyone his picture. There was a blot of ink covering the teacher, but it was enough to determine what their size would be.

"The teacher appears to be around the size of a human," I said.

"If the masterminds truly are related, that makes it impossible for them to be Pikachu, Kirby, Jigglypuff or Yoshi who are all smaller than humans," Samus noticed.

"So everyone else is still a suspect."

"Hey, I think if we figure out who has all the truths… We'll find the mastermind!" Jigglypuff smiled.

"B-but what-a if-a the mastermind can't-a be found with-a the truths?"

"I have a feeling we'll be able to find out! We have Link with us!"

"Uh… There are some I can't prove or disprove like Cloud's and Zelda's…" I groaned in annoyance.

"I know, that's why we should start with mine. We already know it has at least one truth. I can't prove I never killed someone before… But if we prove that the first murder was real, we'll be able to find out more and it'll prove I never killed anyone."

"I want to do the summary!" Captain Falcon volunteered.

"Go straight ahead!"

"Yoshi wrote to Fox to come visit him. Yoshi tried to attack Fox but failed. Fox knocked Yoshi out and saw it as an opportunity to kill Yoshi. Fox killed Yoshi and started to get rid of evidence and messed around. He got stuff from the storage room and…"

As Captain Falcon continued the summary, I couldn't help but feel that something didn't make sense. After some reflection, I immediately noticed what was wrong.

"The storage room… The announcement says that it closes at night but… That never actually happens."

"Maybe the mastermind forgot to lock it that night?" Captain Falcon suggested.

"I don't know… But while investigating, I found plans stating that one of the deaths was not what it seemed. I think it's possible that we might have seen someone die while thinking they were someone else."

"But who would it be?"

"The mastermind… They must have faked their death or something. I think we should look for something every case has in common."

"Yoshi was mutilated, Fox is a bunch of unrecognizable bones, Donkey Kong seems fine from the outside, Ryu was crushed, Pikachu has some injuries, Mario is a pile of ashes, Bayonetta had acid burns, Ness had his head crushed, Zelda was burnt and is unrecognizable and Crazy Hand was destroyed," Cloud summarized.

"E-every-a c-case involves-a someone being-a unrecognizable after their-a death!"

"That's not all," I sighed, "The fifth trial is the only one where the victim is also unrecognizable."

"I-I-a think the mastermind tried to-a confuse us with-a the fifth-a trial…"

"I think so too. There would be no reason to try and hide Zelda's identity by burning her."

"But didn't she-a die by being-a burned?"

"No… While investigating, I concluded that the Crazy File lied and Zelda's true cause of death was a bash to the head."

"Upupupu! Took you some time!"

"You shouldn't be allowed to mess the files!" Kirby complained.

"Actually he can…"

"What do you mean by that, Link?"

"The students are allowed to mess with the trial and to lie. So if Monokuma is a student, he can mess with the Crazy File as much as he wants."

"Upupupu! You figured out my loophole!"

"I guess this confirms that Monokuma is indeed a student," Cloud smirked, "That means none of us here is the teacher."

"What!? That's unfair! How can you be so sure I didn't say that on purpose?"

"First of all, you're an idiot. Second of all, none of us here is the Ultimate Ruler. Finally, you suck at ruling."

"Upupu! You have no proof that I'm not faking my stupidity."

"But if Monokuma really is faking… Then we're back to square one!" Jigglypuff groaned.

"We can't give up!" I yelled, "We can still find out who Monokuma really is!"

"Y-you're right… Maybe we could try looking at Monokuma's relationships."

"His relationships?"

"Yeah, with the students. He acts differently around everyone. He always teases you and me, he lets Cloud get away with kicking him, he seems indifferent to Captain Falcon, and Samus and he's pretty angry at Kirby."

"Isn't it against the school rules to touch Crazy Hand and Monokuma?" Samus asked.

"Actually, the rules state that only violence against Crazy Hand is forbidden," Cloud reminded her.

"I don't remember any of the students ever being fine with you kicking them."

"Hey! I have an idea!" Captain Falcon announced, "What if Monokuma's personality and relationships are opposites of his real ones!"

"That's ridiculous."

"I think he's on to something," I smiled, "We should think of who's relationships are the opposite of Monokuma's!"

"But what if they're based on our old relationships from our memories?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense…"

"I think we should consider who could have faked their death or swapped."

"It's most likely someone that ended up unrecognizable," Kirby added.

"But who would they swap with?"

"A relative or a look-alike."

"But how do we-a know who has a relative who's a teacher?" Luigi asked.

"I saw a list of teachers when I went to the headmaster's office. Zelda, Kirby, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Fox, Mario, and Luigi have relatives who are teachers."

"W-what? I-a had a relative in this-a school?"

"Apparently," I answered, "If we focus on the unrecognizable ones, Zelda, Fox, and Mario are our only candidates."

"Link, what is-a the name of my-a relative?"

"Jumpman."

"In that-a case, we can rule-a Mario out. I-a know what they both-a look like and it was definitely-a Mario who got-a executed."

"So, it's either Fox or Zelda…"

"Upupu! This is getting exciting!"

"If we remember the thing about the storage rooms, it seems likely that Fox is the mastermind," Samus reflected.

"And if it's either Fox or Zelda, that means I'm not the one with all the truths," Cloud added.

"But maybe we're wrong about everything and you really have all the truths," Jigglypuff theorized.

"Really?"

"We can never be too safe."

"We need to take risks. If we're too safe, we'll end up going in circles. Either way, it's already pretty obvious who the mastermind is."

"Upupupu! Who do you think it is?"

"Obviously-"

"Fox!"

"Zelda!"

"Someone here!"

"Cloud!"

"A-no one!"

"Don't cut me off!"

"You guys are so immature," Monokuma sighed, "Debate my young cubs! Debate!"

"It has to be either Zelda or Fox…" I mumbled.

"If we prove that Link has all the truths, we'll know for sure that Zelda's the mastermind," Cloud said.

"But how will we prove he has all the truths? Don't his statements mention there only being one mastermind?" Kirby asked.

"Maybe one of the masterminds is THE mastermind and the other one is a lackey," Jigglypuff suggested.

"Upupu! I think it's time for me to participate. Why would one of the masterminds die?"

"Huh? Maybe you wanted to feel despair and you killed them!"

"Could the lackey have betrayed Monokuma?" Captain Falcon asked.

"The lackey killed or unluckily ended up a victim?" Samus suggested.

_Everything seems possible… But I don't think Monokuma ever considered the possibility that we remembered._

"What if their memories returned?"

"What a beary original suggestion! It's ridiculous! Where did that come from?"

"Our memories, you erased them somehow but they're returning."

"W-what!? Th-that-"

"I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Like hell, I'll tell you! Where's the fun in that?"

"You really are a terrible liar once things don't go as planned," Samus remarked.

"Our memories started to come back after the fourth trial," Kirby informed Monokuma.

_If that's the case… Only one person can be the mastermind…_

"Zelda's the true mastermind."

"How can you say that when we haven't even solved the storage room and announcements?" Jigglypuff asked.

_I guess she has a point…_

"Upupupu! You were so sure! How does it feel being wrong for once?"

"I think Link's right," Cloud said, "It wouldn't make sense for Fox or anyone else to be related to the Ultimate Ruler in any way."

"The timing of Zelda's death and the return of our memories matches up," Kirby agreed.

"It's the only logical answer. The way Zelda and Crazy Hand fought was similar to relatives bickering," Samus smiled.

"Link's always right! I believe in him," Captain Falcon cheered.

The support of my friends gave me courage.

"Pikachu wrote that after every murder, the rooms were completely clean. Except for strands of blond hair."

"Upupu! But how would you explain her death?"

"Um…"

I tried recalling what the other Zelda looked like. She looked similar to the Zelda we knew but she had brown hair…

"The reason Zelda was burned was to hide the fact that she wasn't the Zelda we knew. Her hair color and facial features are different, but we wouldn't be able to tell if she was burned. The Zelda we knew was the one who killed the Ultimate Ruler!"

"H-how wrong you are!"

"Zelda, you're the Ultimate Despair!"

"..."

"Lost the will to fight?"

"Upupupu! You have no proof that the Zelda that died isn't our Zelda."

"You burning her proves it."

"Oh, sure it does!"

"The wooden sword. It had strands of brown hair on it. They were the Ultimate Ruler's hair! You killed her!"

"I never killed that Zelda!"

"You've just admitted that there were two Zeldas."

"Motherfucker!"

"The blond hair after every murder case belonged to you!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"Zelda, you're the Ultimate Despair behind everything... You're the mastermind who killed her own relative!"

And with that, Monokuma stopped moving. The robot didn't make a single noise.

"..."

"How does it feel to lose?" Samus asked.

"..."

"Are you going to show your true self?" Captain Falcon asked.

"..."

"Admit-a defeat, Zelda."

The room was silent until a laugh filled the room.

"Upupupu! Admit defeat? Like hell, I'll do that!"

The robot continued laughing as the trial ground was being filled with smoke. I couldn't see anything, the smoke was too dense. Suddenly, the smoke cleared rapidly and the mastermind revealed herself.

She was standing in front of us with a big grin. Everyone stared at her in disbelief before she started speaking.

"Oh, it took you guys some time. But alas, it seems good things do come to those who wait. Zelda and I were cousins. Born to a really boring royal family. Anyone want to switch sides and join despair?"

_That's it… The two despairs Pikachu wrote about must be them…_

Everyone remained silent as the princess laughed filling the room with despair.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was longer than expected. Zelda was planned to be the mastermind from the beginning. Only two chapters left!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter!


	21. Chapter 6 - Despair - Class Trial Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final climax. The final battle. Who will win? Hope or Despair?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I bet you've all seen that everyone will be back for Super Smash Bros Ultimate! Everyone gets to keep their mains, waifus, husbandos, babies, punching bags, whatever! And Ridley is in it! Fucking Ridley! And Daisy too! There won't be many newbies though. That's fine though. Everyone I wanted in Smash Bros is finally in! I mean, we have both Ikes! Marth can speak English (not sure about Cloud or Roy). They kept Roy's badass SSB4 design. We now have Leaf and a female Pikachu! There are three Links, this just confirms the final plot twist of this story with Young Link time traveling through time. I just hope the final newcomers aren't from Pokemon or Fire Emblem, I love those series but they have enough reps.

"… No one wants to join despair?" the mastermind said in shock before laughing, "How despair-inducing!"

"Just what are you planning?" Samus asked but Zelda ignored her.

"You know… You didn't get to do your recap, Link. Why don't you do it now?"

I sighed as I was left with no other option.

"When we entered Hope's Peak. We met Zelda who presented herself as the Ultimate Magician. What we didn't know was that she was the mastermind working with her relative. After the fourth trial, the victim's memories started to return. Zelda decided that she need to act fast. She gave us a motive which prohibited us from sleeping. We all ended up in the cafeteria and Zelda made us coffee with sleeping pills in it. Once everyone fell asleep, Zelda went to the dojo to take a wooden sword. She returned to the data processing room and knocked out her victim. She then thought of how to kill her victim. She rushed to the greenhouse and took a pickaxe which she used to bash her victim's head. Zelda cleaned the data processing room but missed some spots. She waited for the sprinklers to finish and move her victim to the greenhouse. She swapped clothes and then burned her victim. She returned the pickaxe and sword to their original locations and created the new Crazy File in which she lied about the cause of death. Afterward, she resumed her role as Monokuma and Crazy Hand."

"Great job!" the mastermind cheered.

"Why are you so happy? You killed your family and friends!" Captain Falcon shouted.

"I had to. Those were the rules! You kill and get caught, you lose and get executed! As for that bitch… She wouldn't be able to deal with those despairing memories."

"What despairing memories?"

"The ones you have yet to remember! It's up to you to figure out! Well… That and it made a big plot twist!"

"You killed her for the sake of your audience?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Of course, anyone in my position would. It was becoming too obvious that she was going insane."

"But why would she go insane because of her memories?"

Maybe she was…

"Guys," I started, "What if she wasn't an Ultimate Despair but instead brainwashed?"

"Brainwashed? But how?" Kirby wondered.

"A subliminal video, music, a psychic… Zelda could have threatened Ness or another psychic and use their powers to brainwash and erase our memories. There's no other psychic here, so it was probably Ness."

"N-Ness? How did-a Zelda threaten-a him?"

"I don't know, but it makes no difference. He's the only one with the ability to alter our minds."

"Aw, it took you no time to figure that out." the mastermind pouted.

"Really, that's your reaction? You're completely crazy!" Captain Falcon yelled.

"Never said I wasn't."

"But wasn't Crazy Hand-"

"That was all other Zelda's doing! She was a crazy bitch as you all know. I wonder how other other Zelda would have handled this?"

"There's more of you?"

"Of course, we're lots of Zeldas. Every time one of them dies, my heart breaks into a million pieces filled with despair. They're probably all dead now..."

"Why would they be dead?" Cloud asked.

"Did you guys all forget about the tragedy? Lots of people died. The world was full of despair."

"And you started it," I told her.

"I never said that."

"You did. I overheard you saying it after the third trial."

"Gasp! You've been keeping this secret from me and all the others… I mean, I guess Pikachu also figured it out later on."

"But, what about Pikachu's note about there being two despairs?"

"That was before the tragedy, probably. His locker wasn't the most interesting place in the school."

"If other Zelda was brainwashed… Why does she count as an Ultimate Despair?" Jigglypuff asked.

"The note never said there were two Ultimate Despairs. Just that there were two despairs."

_Ultimate Despair refers to the leader if I remember correctly._

"Sakurai, the headmaster, was studying the Remnants of Despair. They worshiped the Ultimate Despair. It's possible that the note was referring there two there being two members of the group."

"One was a remnant and the other one was the Ultimate Despair… It all makes sense!" the pink puff smiled.

"Exactly, Jigglypuff. That means that the Remnants of Despair was a group started before the Tragedy."

"But why brainwash other Zelda?"

"I think I know!," the other puff grinned, "It's easier to manipulate family and there's no way she could have manipulated Dad!"

"Couldn't she have manipulated other students?"

"Yeah, but it would be harder to organize this killing game that way."

"Never stopped me! At least until that brat ruined everything and made me despair! All my manipulation for nothing!" the mastermind complained.

"What about my statements? The first line states that Ultimate Despair turned five, one of them turned one who turned the losers' school," Samus recalled.

"Oh, that… I never specified which school did I? Could be Hope's Peak or some other school."

"So, you turned a whole school into Remnants of Despair?"

"The statement never said it was me. It said it was someone else. Blaming me for something I didn't do. How mean of you..."

"But you did turn a whole class into murderers, drove another into isolation and made people commit suicide," I reminded the mastermind.

"Yes, that is absolutely correct!"

"Maybe we shouldn't take the statements literally," Cloud suggested, "It's highly unlikely that she managed to turn an entire school into Remnants of Despair by herself. Either way, it can't be our school, we're not Remnants of Despair."

"But what if the first six despairs turned another school? With her, anything is possible!" Captain Falcon freaked out.

"So what is the despair video my second statement mentioned?" Samus demanded to know.

"That's a video I sent everyone outside the loser's school! I exposed all of Hope's Peak's controversies. If you win, you might be able to find out more about it!"

"All right, what about the third one? Fifteen despairs with sixteen hopes."

"Sixteen hopes probably refers to students from Hope's Peak and the despairs refers to members of the Remnants," I theorized.

"I guess the fourth one is quite obvious. We are the most famous people on Earth refers to us and the killing game. That leaves only the fifth statement..."

"The despair virus will start a new game."

"Maybe it's a metaphor for the despair video or the fact that people are being converted to despair?"

"It could be," Cloud agreed, "But I think the new game part is more worrying."

"Is she-a planning on-a starting a new killing-a game?"

"It doesn't specify her starting it. It could be someone else taking her place as the Ultimate Despair once we win."

_There's something about these statements… It's almost as if they tell a…_

"I got it!" I shouted, "The statements tell a story. It starts with the beginning of the Remnants of Despair which leads to a video being created to spread despair. Fifteen students from Hope's Peak become Remnants and end up stuck somewhere along with sixteen normal Hope's Peak students. Afterward, the killing game begins. Once it ends… A new killing game will begin."

"Bravo! Took you long enough," Zelda smiled.

"Do you guys think this new game will have anything to do with us?" Kirby asked.

"Maybe the participants will be the people in the videos from the first motive?" Jigglypuff answered.

"Or it could be those sixteen students along with the fifteen despairs..." Samus sighed.

"We have no way of really knowing. Maybe we should try solving the school's mystery?"

"The headmaster before the tragedy was Sakurai, Kirby's dad," I reminded everyone, "There were some photos in his office showing he was happy with his family. Based on that, we can assume the Remnants of Despair was a group started during our time as students at Hope's Peak."

"Makes sense," Cloud agreed, "Zelda wouldn't have been able to manipulate anyone from where she lived before."

"Exactly. The only ones living close to Hope's Peak were Kirby and I. I didn't find any notebooks belonging to him or me. It's possible we took them back home or that they were destroyed."

"Maybe they contained important information detrimental to the success of Zelda's plans?"

"Could be, but it's most likely that they were never in the locker room. I tend to carry all my books with me everywhere."

"Same here," Kirby agreed, "All though, my bag always ends up heavy, but I'm very strong, so I can handle it."

"But, Link, how did you get the notebooks?" Captain Falcon asked.

"I used the headmaster's e-handbook. There are two copies. One was left in Sakurai's office and the other one was given to Cloud by the mastermind. What ever happened to the second one?"

"Maybe the mastermind took it back. I don't know what Zelda did with all the accessories."

"Oh, I threw most of them away. I have the e-handbook right here," the princess said as she waved the e-handbook.

"Anyone ever thought about what the accessories meant?" Samus wondered.

"I thought-a they just had to-a do with our-a secrets."

"But how did Zelda know about them?"

"You guys all told me out of your own free will. Now, it's my turn to ask questions. Why did I choose the motives I did?"

_What kind of question is that?_

"To make us kill each other, duh!" Jigglypuff puffed, "You wanted to see us despair!"

"I think you're getting somewhere," I said, "The motives are all things that lead to despair. Knowing that our families might be dead. Having an embarrassing secret revealed. Being offered enormous amounts of money that could make life easier. The uncertainty of knowing what's real or not. Being unable to rest. It all leads to despair!"

"And you guys are the only ones who didn't fall into despair. You clung on to hope despite despair surrounding you all the time," Zelda smiled.

"But why give us motives?"

"To make the show more interesting. If I hadn't, you guys would have just lived in peace until you died of old age. Of course, your hope did also lead to death. The hope the killers had of getting out led them to kill and to their deaths. Hope always leads to despair."

"But in that-a case, why-a bother erasing our-a memories?"

"Because we wouldn't want to leave. The video I found had us being interviewed. We were told that we had to stay at the school for the rest of our lives and we all accepted it. If we remembered why we had to stay, we wouldn't want to leave."

"The reason we-a had to-a stay must have been-a because of-a the tragedy..."

"Just what happened out there?"

"I guess I can show you. Your reactions will be filled with despair," Zelda laughed as the screens on the walls turned on.

What appeared shocked us.

The area around Hope's Peak was all destroyed. There were dead bodies everywhere. Everything was red. Landmarks had Monokuma's on them. Lumiose City's tower had a monokuma face at the top. Statues had their faces replaced with Monokuma's face. The temple of Time had its windows replaced with Monokuma stained glass.

Cities were mercilessly being destroyed by giant Monokumas. People were wearing Monokuma masks and rioting. They destroyed their surroundings and killed anyone not wearing masks. The exception seemed to be a small group of people with eyes glowing red full of despair as they killed anyone around them.

I had no words for what had been shown. The world really had ended.

"The world's in a bit of a pinch right now. All of that happened after The Worst, Most Despair-inducing Incident in the History of Mankind," Zelda sighed.

"B-but how did that-a happen?"

"It's not important. All that matters is that the world as you once knew it is gone. Your Ultimate Talents don't even matter anymore. So, do you really want to leave this place?"

I didn't know what to think at the time… The world had ended, there was nothing left… But once again, Jigglypuff managed to break the silence.

"How long have we been in here?"

"About a year," Zelda smiled.

"In that case," I started, "You must have not only erased but also change some. If we're two years older than what we thought we were, we would have noticed our bodies were different."

"I got Ness to mess with your memories. That way, you wouldn't notice two years had passed."

"So, we can't remember one year at Hope's Peak and one year inside here?"

"Exactly! Among with a few memories that would make you notice everything wrong. You forgot about all your friends at Hope's Peak. The other students, the teachers, the losers… Everyone! How despairing to forget about all the people you loved and cared about. It was so despairing for me to see the people I loved forget everything..."

"What?" Kirby said in shock, "How could a monster like you love us all?"

"You were all my friends. Seeing you in despair causes me to despair. I want to spread despair to everyone! I want to share despair with the world!"

"How can you say such a thing?"

"Because it's true! Everything started two years ago when we all started attending this school. The first semester was happy and peaceful. We made a lot of friends. We went on school trips, we got to visit the Brawl branch. It was the worst school life possible. But everything started to change during the second semester when despair started to secretly spread. Peace ended and a lot of people died. The Worst, Most Despair inducing Incident in the History of Mankind happened at the start of our second school year. So around the end of August. Most of the students at Hope's Peak died. The bitch Zelda, being the Ultimate Ruler, wanted to protect us and asked the headmaster for permission to protect the school. He accepted, naturally."

"But what happened to him? What did you do to my Dad?" Kirby asked angrily.

"I made sure he couldn't get in when we finished shutting of the school from the world. Who knows where he is now! He could be dead or he might still be alive trying to find a way to get you out. Anything is possible now!"

"Just how many people were part of the Remnants of Despair?" Samus demanded to know.

"I don't know. I couldn't care less about those losers. They're brainless power-obsessed murderers now. My despair is a concept, an ideology of some sorts. Everyone is affected by it. By making despair your enemy, the whole world will be against you. Now back to my story. After we were safe, the world continued to collapse. Despair ended up taking over and the Remnants are currently ruling it. The students of Hope's Peak that survived ended up in despair. As for the Brawl branch, only two classes of losers survived. Of course, I made sure the Remnants locked them up. I can't guarantee their sanity, they might have all turned over to despair. I also got the Remnants to kidnap your family and friends to keep them hostages. I haven't contacted them since the game started… They might have died from starvation. Anyway, we stayed here doing nothing for a whole year. To celebrate the one year anniversary of the Tragedy, I started the killing game which I had been preparing for a year. I spent a boring year training my magic tricks to create perfect executions for everyone here, myself included."

"A-and y-you're fine with all of this?" Jigglypuff stuttered.

"Of course not! It brings me so much despair to see the world collapse! To see my beloved friends suffer! It fills me with so much despair!"

"But what was the point of the killing game?" I glared.

"To destroy the last remaining pockets of hope. Of course, when there is despair, there will always be someone who resists. Some people have yet to fall… So I created this show to ensure everyone feels despair! The remnants have made sure that it is projected everywhere! We are the highest rated TV show in the history of the world. All those shit series have got nothing on us!"

"That way… You intend to spread despair to everyone."

"Almost like a virus if you think about it. Oh, by the way. I set up traps around the school, so all the people who tried to help you out after watching are all dead."

"H-how could-a you! You've been-a using us to make-a others despair!"

"You've been making me despair more than anyone else. Imagine I had chosen class M63 instead of you, I wouldn't feel as much despair losing… It's more despairing having your friends beat you than some random losers I have no attachment to. Everything has been going according to my plan to make us all despair together!"

"You planned this all along," Cloud groaned, "You wanted us to learn the truth and despair."

"And it worked! The truth is usually filled with despair as much as you tell yourselves the opposite. Your friends did die for nothing. You guys mourned for nothing. Nothing matters anymore."

I felt the despair in the air. We all wanted to give up. No one even dared to speak up. But someone had to, even if it had to be me. I couldn't let everything end like this.

"So, what? You have no proof! As long as I haven't seen the world, I can't know if it ended. And even if it did, nothing can stop us from rebuilding it!" I yelled.

"You won't even survive a minute outside. You bastards killed each other after being pushed by motives, but out there… There's no motive for killing other than despair. You'll be killed as soon as you set foot outside!"

"I won't let them kill me. I won't let despair kill my friends. I'm not scared of you or despair anymore. If there's despair somewhere, I'll make sure to bring hope!"

"All right, time to vote! This trial has been way longer than the other ones. You will choose who to punish. Hope or despair. If even one of you chooses hope, I win and hope will be punished. Naturally, I won't participate in the voting."

"And if everyone votes despair?"

"The punishment for voting hope will be you living here peacefully for the rest of your pathetic lives. If everyone votes despair, I'll be punished and you are all free to go out into the despair filled world."

"That's it?" Samus asked.

"I didn't expect that," Captain Falcon admitted, "Wouldn't that be boring according to your standards?"

"You're totally right!" the mastermind gasped, "If one person votes for hope, I'll execute only one person. Link, you're up!"

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"You've been the one solving all the mysteries and shit. If two people vote for hope, I'll kill Kirby. If three vote for hope, Cloud will die. If you four of you vote for hope, I'll kill Captain Falcon. If five of you vote for Hope, Luigi will die. If six of you vote for hope, Samus will be executed. And if everyone votes for hope, Jigglypuff will be punished."

"How do you think anyone will vote for hope after hearing this?"

"If you all vote for despair, I will be punished and you will all be required to leave this shit school. You'll all probably die."

Silence filled the room once again. If I could read other people's minds, I would assume they were all in shock and unable to decide who to vote for.

"You all looks so shocked? Don't you trust your friends? Is one of you really thinking about voting for hope?"

"Of course not! We won't give in to despair! I'd rather live outside helping others than live in this wretched school knowing someone had to die!" I shouted, "I won't lose hope… I won't let anyone lose hope!"

"No one will lose hope!" Captain Falcon shouted, "I'll drive to save people! I don't want to live in peace if it means I'm letting innocent people die!"

"Link is right!" Kirby frowned, "I don't care about this school. I'll find Dad and help the world! I'll use my talent to help rebuild this collapsed world."

"I won't use my fighting skills for myself," Cloud started, "I'll use them to combat despair and to protect hope! I won't let anyone fall into despair."

"Yes!" Samus agreed, "I won't let everyone's deaths be in vain. I'll use them to motivate myself in my fight to rid this world of despair. I am not letting anyone I know kill for the sake of despair!"

"I won't-a let Zelda win!" Luigi yelled, "Mario and Ness wouldn't-a want me to-a give up! I'll-a help anyone who-a falls into despair to find-a hope and-a love again!"

"I'll tell everyone's stories," Jigglypuff decided, "With my songs, I'll make sure nobody's forgotten. With my music, I can bring back hope to the masses!"

"It's polluted outside," Zelda revealed, "You're only alive thanks to the air purifying machine in the school. There's nowhere to live outside. You'll be in peace here, no one can kill you. You'll get to live here until you're old without any worries or stress..."

But no one listened.

"If I die, you won't be able to live anymore! You'll probably die from lung cancer if you're not killed when you exit! There's even more despair outside than inside!"

But no one listened.

"You bastards are horrible! Why would you little shits want to leave?"

But no one listened.

"Despair will rule the world! I could have you all executed right now!"

"We won't give in to despair!" we all yelled together as we voted for despair to be punished.

"W-what?"

"You've lost, Zelda," Samus declared.

"This is… I've…"

"Accept your loss," Cloud told the princess.

"You can't change our minds anymore!" Kirby smiled.

"This is absolutely the best!" the princess grinned as everyone stared in disbelief, "I've lost… I've lost! I spent years planning for nothing! I killed my family… My friends… I've never felt so much despair! I'm feeling so much despair that I can't even cry for them anymore! I've never felt so great! Let's move on to punishment."

"Wait," I said, "We were supposed to win so that nobody would die!"

"Shut up you fucking bastard!" Zelda yelled, "I've been alive for eighteen years and have never been able to feel hope! The only thing I've ever been looking forward to was despair! I won't let you take away from me the joy of feeling the ultimate despair before death!"

Everyone wanted to stop her but she wouldn't let us.

She walked towards the red button that was pressed before every execution and she laughed as she was about to press it.

"At last, I'll feel the ultimate despair. I wish I could share it with everyone. In another life, I'd be the queen with unlimited power to spread despair. In another life, I might have even been able to feel hope. In another life, I might have even fought against despair. But, this life isn't any of them! I might have failed this life. But at least I can go out surrounded by despair! It's punishment time!"

The mastermind laughed as she pressed the red button and a Monokuma appeared. The Monokuma took her by the hand as Zelda smiled before being taken to her execution.

* * *

Zelda appears in a classroom. She is waving with grace as many decorations and props from all the previous executions appear.

**Attack of the despair**

Zelda is being shot at by an arwing. She runs as the arwing starts to catch up. She starts running out of breath and slowing down, but the arwing catches up and shoots her.

She is shot to another place. She appears inside a Japanese temple. Giant Monokuma's try looking for her. With every step they take, the ground shakes. One of the Monokuma's manages to remove the rood of the temple and grabs Zelda. Zelda stares at it with fear.

**Crouching Despair, Hidden Despair**

The princess if thrown into the air and she screams as she starts falling down. A Monokuma starts punching her as she falls. Zelda screams in agony as the Monokuma punches her. The Monokuma prepares a final blow and uses all its strength to punch Zelda into the ground.

Instead of landing on the ground, Zelda falls into a pipe and arrives in a sewer. A hoard of Monokumas appear and prepare to chase Zelda.

**Don't. Touch. Despair.**

Zelda runs as the Monokumas chase her. She manages to avoid obstacles but starts tripping due to her fatigue. The Monokumas fall and Zelda arrives in front of a light and sees the Kingdom of Hyrule. But before the nostalgia hits her, she is surrounded by flames. She feels the heat and despair going into her head but she waits for the next thing to happen.

The flames burn through the floor and she falls on a pink cloud. She starts jumping on to the clouds that appear to escape the bird Monokuma and all the other Monokumas that appear. The Monokumas all start to chase Zelda.

**Bound to Despair**

As the Monokumas chase her, Zelda slips and falls from the beautiful landscape into a city. A Monokuma hits her with a bat and send the princess flying through the city. Meteorites fall from the sky but none of them manage to hit her. She lands against a tall building and the landscape changes.

Zelda finds herself on a stage surrounded by stars. Multiple Monokumas appear and laugh at her as they launch their attack.

**Despairing Destination**

The Monokumas attack Zelda. She tries defending herself with her magic but the Monokumas overpower her and continue punching her. They tie the princess up and she expects a finishing blow. A Monokuma carrying a bomb appears. It throws the bomb on the stage and it collapses.

Zelda appears in Hyrule castle. She recognizes every part of it. She unties herself and hears a lullaby. Barely able to walk, she tries to head towards the origin of the music. She arrives in front of a big door and opens it.

**The Despairing Legend of the Despairing Princess of Despair Zelda**

She recognized her family members as they play instruments to sing a lullaby. Tears roll down the princess' cheeks as she remembers the song of her childhood. But they're not tears of sadness or happiness, but tears of despair. She laughs as she grabs a Monokuma and a torch. She starts setting the whole castle on fire and her family members melt. The music continues playing as the castle burns. Zelda waits for flames to surround her once again but the castle starts shaking. The roof is about to collapse. Zelda hugs Monokuma and accepts her fate. The shaking stops and Zelda looks up to see what's happening as she feels the ultimate despair and fear of death. She looks down at Monokuma as her life flashes in front of her eyes. The bear laughs as it explodes, blowing up itself and Zelda. The castle collapses on their remains.

* * *

On Crazy Hand's throne lies the emergency control for the front gate of Hope's Peak Academy. A final gift by Zelda to her beloved friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> It's been a long journey. But all journeys must come to an end, so that a new one may start. If there are any unanswered questions, feel free to ask them.
> 
> It's time to pass on the torch from Link to the Duck Hunt Duo (my FF.Net audience voted for them) as they begin their story.
> 
> The new story comes out at the same time the epilogue which should be in a few days. I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as this one. I'm really excited for it since Melee has my favorite SSB characters (Marth, Roy, Peach, Sheik…).
> 
> The E3 Nintendo Direct was great. I was watching it live and was fangirling during the 25 minutes dedicated to SSBU. Also, Sakurai beat everyone using Link and Ike. That was hilarious.
> 
> Also, I'm pretty hyped up for Fire Emblem 16 (even though I have to wait until I move to France to play it) and Blackpink's new album (it comes out tomorrow, there have been teasers all week). I've been pretty obsessed with Fire Emblem and Blackpink lately. I've been playing Path of Radiance (Ike's game) and it's amazing. I love the characters. Blackpink has great music, if you like K-pop and haven't checked them out, you should. They're pretty different from other girl groups like Twice (I also love them), Red Velvet, SNSD...
> 
> See you in the epilogue!


	22. Epilogue - Goodbye Hope's Peak Academy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and his friends have defeated despair. They now prepare their exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LAST CHAPTER!!!
> 
> The next story is called Farewell Despair Academy.

It's over… It's all over…

I could feel the air getting thinner with every passing second. Zelda hadn't lied about the air purification system.

I looked at everyone and they smiled at me.

We all stood in front of the main gate. It was silent. Nobody could find any words to say. Not that I would blame them, I was speechless.

This hall was where we had all me for the first time during this killing game. The first time everyone from class N64 was standing together during the killing game. When all of us were still alive.

But it was all over. We couldn't just stand in front of the gate forever.

"Link, I think you should open the gate!" Jigglypuff cheered, "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have made it this far."

Everyone else agreed with the pink puff and looked at me.

I took the control out of my pocket and smiled at them.

"Will it-a really work?" Luigi asked.

"I don't see why it wouldn't," Cloud answered.

"Part of me is scared to see the world outside," Captain Falcon admitted.

"It could be in ruin or I might be thriving. Either way, it's our world. If we don't like the way things are, we'll have to change them," Samus smiled.

"Right! Even if the world is destroyed, we'll do everything we can to save it!" Kirby grinned.

"Our world is so big… Of course, there will be despair. But even so, there will also be hope. Despair doesn't scare me anymore. Let's save this world!" Jigglypuff shouted with joy.

"As long as despair exists, hope will exist too. Zelda said there were still people resisting. Hope won't die," I told everyone.

Nothing can stop us now. We've faced despair like no other. It no longer scares us, we won't let our world fall.

"I guess this is goodbye," I started.

"Goodbye, a-Mario and-a Ness."

"It's time to save the world," Samus laughed.

"It's not like it can get any worse than what Zelda said. It's all getting better from now on," Cloud sighed.

"Even so! We can't relax just yet!" Captain Falcon shouted.

"I can feel inspiration flowing through my veins! I can't wait to share my music and everyone's stories," Jigglypuff giggled.

"I will make sure to find Dad… And I'll help everyone! So give me a call if you need a technician!" Kirby announced.

"It's time..." I said, "This is our graduation. Let's go back to our world."

We'll spread hope around the world. We won't give up. Nothing can scare us now, we'll always move forward. As long as despair exists, our hope can grow.

I smiled as I pressed the red button on the control.

The door separating us from the world, hope from despair, the past from the future… That door finally opened as all we could see was the light from our world.

In the middle of the courtroom, a Monokuma is lying on the floor and laughing.

"Upupupu! Beary interesting! Upupupu-"

The Monokuma's head is bashed by a foot. The robot's head is now in pieces.

A person looks at the broken robot and takes out one of the pieces from the broken head.

"What a pathetic idiot. Couldn't even handle these idiotic kids… The Remnants don't need you anymore. We'll start a new game before those survivors even know it," the person says as their eyes glow red in despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Thank you for supporting me and this story! It was a lot of fun to write and I couldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for you guys! I hope you all enjoy the new story as much as this one!
> 
> See you in Farewell Despair Academy!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the prologue of this brand new story! If you already know Danganronpa and everything that happens, please don’t spoil it to the others. The prologue is similar to the game but the future chapters will be more different.  
> See you guys on the next chapter!


End file.
